Advent of the Stray
by Unknown entity328
Summary: It was an ordinary day for seventeen-year-old Kren. Coming home from school, parents going on business trips, and watching his favorite anime with his cat. So imagine his surprise when the universe decides to throw a monkey wrench in this routine by sending him and his cat to another world. A/N: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.
1. Prologue

**Time for a brand new fanfic my beautiful readers! Alright, it was tie in the poll between Fairy Tail, Megaman, and One Piece with one vote apiece so I had to resort to the most idiotic way to decide which one to write... rolling a die. Obviously Fairy Tail won the die roll so here you go, keep in mind that I have set this to the time before the release of the Tower of Heaven arc (A.K.A. this is set in the time before the arc was released in the manga and anime). Why would I do that you ask? It's just one of my whims. I would like to ask you all not to ask me to pair my OC with anyone since I already have someone in mind, but I'll keep that my little secret until the grand reveal. Now with that out of the way, I'll get out of your hair so you can read my latest work that I poured my heart and soul into.**

* * *

Prologue: Start of a Journey

A teenage boy with fair skin and short ocean blue hair with several strands hanging between his emerald green eyes wearing a blue blazer over a white long sleeved button up shirt with a red tie, blue jeans, and black and blue sneakers holding a school bag over his shoulder in one hand while the other was in his pocket walked down the street with a pair of earphones in his ears nodding his head along with the beat of the music. He stopped in front of a two story house with a gate pushing it open and walked forward stopping at the door digging through his pocket and pulled out a key putting in the keyhole and turned it unlocking the door.

"I'm home!" The teen called out opening the door and walked in taking off his shoes and earphones at the entrance. A door opened and out came a woman with long brown hair and brown eyes wearing a black suit and matching skirt that hugs her thighs.

When she saw the teen at the door she smiled. "Welcome home Kren, how was school?"

"Our class had a substitute." The now named Kren replied as he picked up his shoes and placed them on a shoe rack. "Mrs. Sanchez is on maternity leave."

"Really?" The woman asked. "That's great, tell her I said congratulations when she gets back."

"I will mom." Kren nodded before noticing the suitcases next to the shoe rack. "Are you going on another business trip?"

"Yes." His mother nodded sighing picking up the suitcase giving Kren an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about this, I just got a call from the office earlier saying it was urgent, your father's already there negotiating with the client."

"It's fine mom." Kren smiled in understanding. "I know that this job is important to both you and dad so I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Kren's mother asked with a concerned look. "Will you be fine by yourself? I can always stay."

"I'll be alright mom." Kren said reassuringly. "You go meet up with dad."

Kren's mother still looked a little unsure of leaving her son home alone before sighing knowing that arguing with her son isn't going to get her anywhere. "Alright, we'll be gone for about a month if things go smoothly and I left enough money on the counter in case you want to order something to eat." She put the suitcase down before pulling out a pen and notepad beginning to write on it. "Be sure to take care of yourself, brush your teeth after every meal, wash yourself thoroughly, eat healthy instead of ordering out all the time, don't forget to-"

"Mom, I'll be fine." Kren said cutting off his mother's ranting with a smile of amusement. "I'm seventeen, not seven, I can take care of myself."

"I know you can." His mother replied smiling at her son as she ripped out the note she was writing on. "But as a mother I can't help but worry about you." She folded the note and held it out to Kren. "I wrote down one of my friend's contact information, if you ever need anything just give them a call."

"I'll be sure to take care of myself." Mizuki reassured taking the folded note before getting behind his mother and lightly pushed her to the door. "Now get going before you miss your flight and have a safe trip."

"Alright." Kren's mother conceded turning to give her son a tight hug before opening the door and walked out.

"Even though it's for work, mom deserves some time alone with dad." Kren said to himself before walking to the living room and sat on the couch. "Now then, since tomorrow's the weekend and Monday's a holiday." Kren picked up the remote on the coffee table in front of him and pressed a button turning on the t.v. and opening Netflix. "I can spend it watching my favorite anime." Kren continued scrolling the available shows on Netflix stopping on one. "Fairy Tail." He heard a meow and looked to the source to see a cat with yellow eyes, brown fur, and it's face, belly, paws and the end of it's long tail being white enter the room. "Hey Han, you want to join me?"

"Meow." The now named Han approached Kren and jumped onto his lap and purred when Kren started to subconsciously scratch him behind the ear as he watch the anime.

After three days of nonstop watching, Kren shut off the t.v. and placed the remote back on the coffee table. "I can never get over watching that anime even though I watched it seven times the past three days." Kren rested his head on the head rest of the couch staring at the ceiling as Han jumped off his lap. "If only there were more episodes released, then I could do a marathon without repeating the same episodes over and over again." Kren sighed before getting to his feet and stretched his arms. "Well, I have school tomorrow and I need some sleep." Kren picked up Han and walked to the door leading to the hallway but when he opened it he saw nothing but pitch black. "What the... what happened to the hall?" Thinking it was a prank being played on him by one of his friends, Kren took a step forward but soon realized that was a mistake as he lost his balance due to the lack of a solid surface and fell forward falling in the dark abyss screaming tightly holding on to Han before blacking out into unconsciousness.

* * *

Kren let out a groan as his eyes slowly opened to see a clear blue sky.

"Why can I see the sky?" Kren muttered to himself a hand over his eyes when the sunlight hit them. "I was in my house, wasn't I?" Kren sat up and looked around to see he was lying in a grassy field with trees next to a dirt path. "Where am I?" He then got up and dusted himself off pausing when he saw his clothes. "What happened to my clothes?!" Kren stared with wide eyes at his clothes seeing he wasn't wearing his school's uniform but a white short sleeved shirt under a green sleeveless sweater with a blue trim, blue jeans, and a pair of brown shoes. "Why am I wearing this and where's my uniform?!" Kren blinked when he had a sudden thought. "Wait, if I'm wearing this instead of my uniform, that means someone must have…" Kren blushed in mortification at the thought of someone changing his clothes while he was unconscious.

"Shut up." A voice sudden groaned out making Kren jump and turned to face the voice to see a cat with brown fur but it's face, belly, paws and the end of it's long tail being white wearing a red, sleeveless button-up vest with three dark diamond-shaped buttons on its right side slowly standing on it's hind feet. It opened it's eyes to reveal a familiar shade of yellow to Kren holding its head with a paw. "I have a really bad headache."

"Who are you?!" Kren shouted pointing at the talking cat before realizing something and began to look around. "And what happened to Han?!"

"What are you talking about." Kren looked to the cat who had his paws on its hips giving the teen a bland look. "I'm right here."

"Huh?" Kren looked back to the talking cat in confusion before crouching to be at eye level. "You're not Han, I would know if my cat can talk, stand on his hind legs like a person, and wears clothes."

The cat just looked at Kren like he was an idiot crossing his arms. "After your middle school graduation, you kept rambling on to me about how you had to sit next to a guy who kept groping a shy girl's ass and neither of you could do anything to stop him without causing a scene."

Kren's eyes widened at that. "How do you know about that? The only one I told was-" He stopped mid-sentence as he stared at the cat in front of him in disbelief as said cat made a go on gesture with it's paw. "Han?"

"He finally catches on." Han sighed before looking at his own body. "Don't ask how I got like this, I don't know."

"Hey!" Kren and Han turned to the source of the voice and Kren almost had a heart attack at what he saw. On the dirt road riding a carriage filled with crates being pulled by a couple of horses was a man with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a red plaid farmer shirt and blue jeans with a straw hat on his head. The man's appearance wasn't what shocked Kren though, what shocked him was that the man looked like he was from an anime. "Are you two lost?"

"Uhhh…" Was all Kren could say looking down to Han before shaking off his shock and addressed the man. "Yeah, do you know where we are mister?"

"You're about three days by carriage from Hargeon." The man replied adjusting the reins on his horses before checking on the crates in his carriage.

Kren just stood there with a shocked look on his face. '_Hargeon, as in _The _Hargeon from Fairy Tail?!_' Kren mentally shook his head. '_Get a hold of yourself Kren, there's no way this is real. You must have fell asleep while watching the anime and dreamt this up._' So that he doesn't look like an idiot, Kren waited for the man to turn his back to him before pinching his cheek and tug on it, hard. '_Owowow!_' He then let go and rubbed his cheek. '_Okay, not a dream. But how did I get here?_'

"Do you two need a lift to Hargeon?" The man asked pointing a thumb to his carriage. "I have enough room for one more person and a cat."

'_I guess we'll have to wing it until I know how we got here and find a way home._' Kren thought looking down to Han to see that he most likely had the same thought. They nodded to each other deciding their course of action before Kren addressed the man. "That would be great, thanks." Kren and Han then walked over and jumped into the the carriage taking a seat in the only spare space in the carriage with Han on his lap. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Think nothing of it." The man said as he got back to the front of the carriage and with a flick of the reigns the horses started pulling it. "The name's Lubo by the way, what's your's young man?"

"Its Kren." Kren replied as he shifted to a more comfortable position in the back of the carriage. "And the cat with me is Han."

* * *

**And that's it for the prologue and I have my sister to thank for the title of my newest fanfic as I nearly overloaded my brain trying to think of a title. I hope you enjoyed reading the prologue and I look forward to reading your reviews to know how you feel about it as it's your honesty that helps me become a better writer so don't hesitate to point out any spelling errors or anything that you think I should improve. That being said, until we meet again!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello my readers, I finally finished chapter one of Advent of the Stray! I know, I know, why did it take so long? The reason it took so long was because I was having trouble writing one particular scene the way I wanted it and it was driving me crazy. But, after a long and strenuous mental battle with myself, I think I'm finally satisfied with how it turned out. Anyway, now that this chapter is out, I don't think you'll have to wait so many months for a new update here. I thank you all for your patience and hope you continue to be patient as I see this fic to the end. But enough of my rambling, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter One: Water Meets Fire

It has been three days since Kren and Han had met Lubo and were sitting in the back of his carriage as they peacefully made their way to the port city of Hargeon. To pass the time, Lubo started telling his passengers funny yet ridiculous stories of his experiences traveling around the kingdom of Fiore. Kren, however, forgot one important detail that didn't make the journey comfortable in the least for him. The blue haired teen didn't remember until after the carriage started moving that he suffers from a severe case of severe motion sickness and that no medication he has taken helped.

"Everything alright back there?" Lubo asked holding the reins looking to the back of the carriage to Kren and Han.

"It's a bit cramped, but we're fine." Kren replied weakly with a hand over his mouth struggling to fight off the urge to vomit when the carriage rocked a little. Swallowing the bile that was fighting to get out, Kren addressed Lubo. "Not that we don't appreciate the lift, but are we close to Hargeon yet?"

Han sighed at the sorry state his owner was in shaking his head with a paw on his forehead. '_How does one forget that they have motion sickness?_'

"We're almost there." Lubo replied facing forward to see the port city in sight before looking back to his passengers. "By the way, what were you two doing on the side of the road where I found you?"

"Uh…" Kren said nervously trying to think of what to say that would explain they're situation without sounding crazy. He looked to Han who shrugged mouthing out to wing it. "We're traveling and thought we'd visit Hargeon for a few things, but the transportation lacrima I bought shattered and dropped us where you found us."

"Ah, rookie mistake." Lubo laughed looking back to the nauseous teen and his feline companion. "I take it your a new wizard?"

"Something like that." Mizuki replied figuring a half truth wouldn't hurt as he fought off another wave of nausea. "I just started a few days ago and I thought I'd see if I can find a magic shop or something in Hargeon."

"Well, then your out of luck, I heard Hargeon only has one magic shop and the goods aren't that great." Lubo said pulling on the reins of his horses telling them to stop before turning to Kren and Han. "We're here."

Kren quickly jump out of the carriage with Han behind him feeling a lot better now that the carriage stopped moving before turning to bow gratefully to Lubo. "Thanks for the ride, we really appreciate it."

"Think nothing of it." Lubo waved Kren off smiling when he had a sudden thought. "If you're a new wizard, might I suggest you decide what magic you want to learn before you go looking for a guild to join."

"I'll do that." Kren nodded as Han jumped to hang on his shoulder before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Though it might be difficult for me to choose just one."

"That's how it is for everyone starting out." Lubo nodded in understanding adjusting his grips on the horse's reins. "Just be sure that when you do decide on a magic you want to learn you'll give it your all."

"I will, take care, Lubo." Kren waved to Lubo before turning to walk into the port city of Hargeon marveling at the sight of the buildings that they walk past. "I can't believe I'm actually in Hargeon!"

"Well, believe it." Han said equally as astonished as his human companion. "It looks way more amazing in person."

"You're right, and it has a nice atmosphere to it." They stopped at the port and Kren closed his eyes taking a deep breath of the salty air as a smile etched itself on his lips. "I just love the smell of ocean air."

"So you've told me countless times." Han rolled his eyes but had a small smile on his face. "If you could, you would probably marry the ocean."

"Ha ha, very funny." Kren rolled his eyes as he walked along the port watching the many boats and ships glide across the ocean surface. "It sucks that I have motion sickness, I would have loved to ride one of those ships."

"I'm sure you will." Han said patting Kren's shoulder reassuringly. "We just need to find the medication that works for you first."

"That wasn't very reassuring." Kren muttered placing his hands in his pockets and stopped walking when he caught sight of a familiar looking yacht. "Is that what I think it is?"

Han nodded in confirmation as he stared at the yacht. "Yup, that's Bora's yacht." He looked to Kren who had a speculative look on his face. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing much." Kren replied absentmindedly, his eyes roaming around taking in all the details of the yacht in front of him. "Just thinking of a way to prevent that yacht from leaving port."

"You do know that's close to impossible, right?" Han looked to his owner then to the yacht. "The only way I can think of that might work is ripping the rudder off."

"That, or somehow punch some holes in the haul." Kren muttered walking closer to the yacht lightly knocking on the wood. "Problem is that we're in broad daylight and by the time night falls it'll be too late."

"Like what you see?"

Kren turned to face the voice to see a relatively tall and slim man with dark blue mildly short, spiky hair jutting outwards, with a long fringe left hanging over the upper left part of his face standing there. He wore a dark high-collared cape almost reaching down to his knees, possessing a lighter inner part and light edges adorned by a pattern consisting of many rhombs lined up one after the other.

"Can't say I'm surprised you're impressed." The man said pompously with a smirk on his face. "After all, it belongs to none other than I, the great-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Kren gave him a powerful kick to the crotch getting a high pitched painful shriek and falling to his knees holding his damaged goods with both hands. "What was that for?"

"Your face just pissed me off." Kren replied with a bland look on his face as the man slumped forward before looking back to the yacht. "It's a shame that a yacht like this belongs to a scumbag like him."

"Really, Kren?" Han gave his owner a half-lidded side glance before looking down to the man who was twitching from the pain. "That was your reason for hitting him in the goods?"

"That wasn't my only reason, Han." Kren replied before turning his attention back to the now unconscious man. "It was also so I can do this without him fighting back." He knelt down to the man and removed the two rings on his right index and middle fingers. "Now Bora can't do his Salamander scam."

* * *

"What are you going to do with those rings?" Han asked as Kren aimlessly walked through the streets of the port city of Hargeon.

"Probably sell them for travel money." Kren replied thoughtfully as he tossed and caught the rings he stole. "We do need currency from this world after all."

"I see." Han muttered looking back to the port with a thoughtful look on his face. "And what are you going to do when Bora wakes up and notices his magic rings are missing?"

"We'll be long gone before he wakes up." Kren replied casually shrugging and placing the rings in his pocket as he walked through the streets of the port city. "After we sell these rings, then we'll make our way to the nearest town."

"You're not planning on meeting Lucy or Natsu?" Han asked in confusion thinking that his owner would jump at the chance of meeting the main characters of his favorite anime.

"Where's the fun in meeting them right off the bat?" Kren smirked petting Han on the head who purred at the touch as they entered a park and walk down the stone path. "Wouldn't it be more fun to see how far I can go without relying on them?"

Han just stared at Kren for a moment after he removed his hand before sighing with a resigned look on his face. "We're dead."

Kren just chuckled at his feline companion's response shaking his head. "O ye of little faith."

"Need I remind you we're in a world full of magic?" Han deadpanned as Kren rounded a corner walking by many shops looking over the items sold behind the windows. "What would you do if you were about to be struck by lightning or a fireball?"

"Two words, four syllables." Kren replied calmly, his voice filled with confidence getting an inquisitive look from Han. "Running away."

Han fell off his owner's shoulder at the stupidity of the blue-haired teen's response before climbing back up looking to see that he was serious. "Running away?"

"Not like I can fight back." Kren explained reaching a hand into his pocket where the rings were and lightly gripped them. "I don't know if I'm able to use magic, so the best option is to run until I confirm that I can."

"Then why not give one of those rings a test run?" Han suggested as Kren pulled out the said rings with the contemplative expression on his face. "You should be able to use a magic item if you have magic power in your body."

"I guess it couldn't hurt." Kren muttered eyeing both rings before putting on the one with the sleeping crescent moon on his right middle finger and pocketing the one with the heart. Kren looked at the ring in confusion flipping his hand to inspect it from all angles. "Okay, now what do I do?"

"Try snapping your fingers." Han shrugged while Kren raised an eyebrow at the feline thinking that it couldn't be that easy. "Just do it."

Kren looked doubtful but complied and positioned his finger to snap them before lowering it. "This is stupid, there's no way it's that easy."

"You never know until you try." Han pointed out jumping off his owners shoulder skillfully twisting his body so that he was facing the blue-haired teen when he landed and placed his paws behind his head in a laid-back manner. "Like the saying goes 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained', right?"

"Come on, you can't be serious." Kren crossed his arms looking his feline companion in the eye. "This is magic we're talking about here, you can't honestly expect me to believe that using it is as simple as snapping my fingers like so..." He raised his hand that had the ring and snapped his fingers to make a point. "And that it... would... actually..." His words began to slur as his eyelids started to feel heavy before they fully closed and he fell flat on his back to Han's surprise.

"Kren?" Han had a worried look on his face as his owner laid motionless on the ground before the sound of light snoring reached his ears. Han walked over to Kren seeing that his chest was slightly rising and lowering before looking to see that his owner was indeed asleep. He waved his paw over Kren's face and shook his shoulder to wake the teen only for him to remain asleep. "Damn, he's really out like a light."

"Is he alright?" The voice of a young woman asked.

"He's fine." Han replied, not turning to face the source of the voice as he continued to attempt to wake his owner. "He just put himself to sleep with his first attempt to use magic."

"His first attempt?" The voice repeated in surprise. "Is he a new wizard?"

"Something like that." Han replied, letting out a frustrated sigh when Kren wouldn't even stir crossing his paws. "I forgot how much of a deep sleeper he is, makes me wonder how his mom gets him up in the morning."

"Do you need some help?"

"Nah, I'll think of something." Han turned to face the person he was talking to only to gasp in shock at who was in front of him.

Standing over him was a young woman with brown eyes and shoulder-length hair tied in a small ponytail to the right side of her head by a clue ribbon with the rest of the hair loose. She is wearing a white shirt with blue trimming on the collar and blue stripes going down the middle and across her buxom chest forming a cross, a thigh-high blue skirt with a brown belt, and a pair of knee-high boots. On the belt were a whip with a heart-shaped end and a ring that held six gold and silver keys and on her right wrist is a black wristband.

"Is there something on my face?" She asked, confused about Han's reaction before feeling her face for anything sticking to it.

"No!" Han quickly replied breaking into a nervous sweat giving the sleeping Kren a side glare. '_Of all times to fall asleep, why did Kren choose now when Lucy freakin' Heartfilia is right in front of me?!_' Thinking quickly, Han looked back to Lucy with a nervous smile. "I was just shocked at how beautiful you look."

"You think so?" Lucy asked smiling brightly with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Thanks for noticing!" Her smile then turned into a frown crossing her arms in irritation. "That stubborn old geezer must be blind!"

'_Ah, we must be close to the magic shop_.' Han sweatdropped as he listened to Lucy rant about how her feminine wiles only got her a 1000 jewel discount. '_The price is a bit ridiculous. If I did my math right, 20,000 jewel should add up to 200 dollars in our world_.'

"There you are!"

Han jumped at the familiar voice and turned to face it to see a not so happy Bora marching towards them. Han stood protectively in front of Kren, who was still under the effects of the sleep spell, and hissed threateningly at Bora.

"Do you know that guy?" Lucy asked in confusion at the feline's behaviour.

"You could say that." Han growled out flexing his paws to bring out his retractable claws.

When he reached them and noticed that Kren was asleep, a devious smirk etched itself on Bora's face. He quickly composed himself and gave Lucy a charming smile. "Pardon me miss, are these two friends of your?"

"Not really." Lucy replied looking down to Han who was glaring daggers at Bora before looking back to the man blue haired man. "I noticed this cat was having trouble waking up his friend, so I thought I'd see if I can help."

"Good thing I showed up then." Bora had a sinister smirk as he looked down to the sleeping Kren. "You would have been in danger if I didn't."

"Why would I be in danger?" Lucy asked in confusion warily placing a hand over her keys.

"These two have quite the reputation." Bora continued to smirk as he looked back to Lucy. "The boy pretends to be a new wizard who accidentally put himself to sleep while the cat lures in unsuspecting women to help." He gestured to the ring with the sleeping crescent moon on Kren's finger. "Then, when they least expected it, the boy puts them to sleep and they carry the women away to sell as slaves."

"Are you serious?" Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she looked down to Han and Kren before backing away from them.

"Yes." Bora nodded glancing over to see that Han's jaw dropped in disbelief and continued before the bipedal feline could process what was going on. "In fact, I've been after these two for quite a while, but they always gave me the slip." He let out a dramatic sigh running a hand through his hair, shaking his head in disappointment. "It shames me that they always seem to get away from me, Fairy Tail's Salamander."

"How awful." Lucy took another step back from Han and Kren before her eyes widened when she processed the rest of what Bora said and looked to him in surprise. "Wait, did you say Fairy Tail?"

"I did." Bora faked a surprised look on his face. "I take it you know Fairy Tail?"

"Of course I know Fairy Tail!" Lucy said with an excited smile on her face as she clasped her hands together. "Fairy Tail is the guild I want to join!"

"Is that so?" Bora grinned with a gleam in his eyes. "How about this then, you help me catch these two and I'll put in a good word for you at the guild, what do you say?"

"You got yourself a deal!" Lucy turned to Han who started to sweat nervously as he watched her take off the whip on her waist.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Han quickly said waving his paws frantically. "That guy's lying to you!" Han's words were ignored as Lucy cracked her whip towards him and the bipedal feline jumped to avoid getting hit. "What's with human women and never listening to both sides of the story?!"

"What's with all the noise?" Han's ears twitched at the drowsy complaint and looked behind him to see that Kren was sitting up rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "I was having such a nice dream."

"You can dream later!" Han shouted, jumping up to scratch Kren in the face who let out a painful shout placing a hand over the scratch marks. "Right now, we have a problem!"

"What problem?" Kren removed his hand from his face and looked around to see a smug Bora standing next to Lucy in front of a fountain with the blond holding her whip in both hands. "Oh, that problem."

"**Prominence Whip!**" Bora made an arched movement with his arm creating a red magical circle that released a number of fiery, curved purple beams is fired towards him and Han. Kren let out a yelp as he quickly scooped up Han into his arms before jumping over the beams.

"Okay, what's going on here?!" Kren shouted as he continued to dodge more beams of purple fire and Lucy's whip. "One minute I'm trying magic for the first time and the next minute I'm being attacked!"

"You put yourself to sleep with that ring!" Han explained pulling his tail close to his chest when a beam almost touched it. "Then Bora tricked Lucy by saying you were the one that was going to sell women as slaves!"

"I would never do that!" Kren looked down to Han as if he was insulted. "Why would Lucy believe him?"

"He also said he was Fairy Tail's Salamander." Han growled as he looked back to glare at Bora who released more fiery purple beams towards them. "He said he'll put in a good word for Lucy if she helped him catch us."

"That scumbag." Kren's gritted his teeth in anger as he tightened his hold on Han as he ducked and rolled to avoid the flames. "Using a girl like that is why I can't stand people like Bora."

"He's quite nimble." Lucy muttered as she holstered her whip when she realized that her attacks weren't connecting. "I don't think I have a spirit that can hit him." She heard the sound of running water behind her and looked to see a fountain then down to her keys and smiled when one stood out. "That's it!"

"Kren." Han said nervously looking to Lucy as she turned to face the fountain and pulled out a gold key.

The bow is designed similar to that of an upside down urn with two handles on either side. The center of the bow is white, stamped with two blue parallel waves and a heart on its base. The blade of the key is designed similar to that of a mermaid tail, with "fins" sprouting out of either side of the base of the bow, and four more at the tip, curling towards the center.

Kren started to sweat nervously when he noticed the design of the key in the blonde girl's hand. "Please tell me she's not doing what I think she's doing?"

Lucy dipped the tip of the key into the water and twisted it to the left as a blue magic circle formed beneath her. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! **Aquarius!**"

There was the sound of a doorbell ringing before a woman resembling a royal blue mermaid appeared in a flash of light. She has a long, blue fish-tail, light blue hair that reaches up to her waist, and a large bust. She has blue eyes that seem to have no pupils. The mermaid was wearing a revealing dark blue bikini top and on each arm, she has a golden armlet and bracelet. She also has a headband, three piercings on her tail, and a golden belt at her waist and light blue crystal earrings. A dark blue tattoo resembling the Aquarius zodiac symbol rests right under her collarbone. In her hands was a light blue urn.

"She's a celestial wizard?" Bora's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the mermaid spirit float over the fountain.

"Alright, Aquarius." Lucy said pointing towards Ken and Han. "I need you to use your powers to capture those two." The mermaid spirit just clicked her tongue which made Lucy look at her with a tic mark on her head. "What's with the attitude?!"

"My, you're still as noisy as ever." Aquarius said moodily as she rested her urn on her waist. "So, do you have a boyfriend yet?"

"That's none of your business!" Lucy turned and pointed towards Kren and Han again. "Just catch those two! They were going to kidnap and sell girls as slaves!"

"Is that so?" Aquarius scowled as water rose from the fountain and entered her urn.

"You got it all wrong!" Kren said waving his hands frantically as the mermaid spirit held her urn up with both hands. "I was trying to stop the REAL culprit!"

"Save your excuses for when you're in hell!" Aquarius yelled as she swung her urn releasing giant waves of water that towered over the three humans and bipedal feline. They could do nothing more than scream as the wave came crashing down and washed them away.

"You were supposed to get them, not me!" Lucy shouted as she tried to keep her head above water.

"What was Lucy thinking summoning Aquarius in the middle of a park?!" Han yelled clinging to Kren's head as the blue haired teen swam over to a tree and held on to it tightly.

"I don't know." Kren replied, trying to keep a level head as the water level began to get lower. "She probably thought Aquarius was her best bet of hitting us."

"You're still alive?" The ill-tempered spirit raised her urn over her head again and began to suck in the water. "This time I'll drown you for sure!"

"We got to stop her!" Han exclaimed as Aquarius prepared to swing her urn. He looked down at Kren who was deep in thought. "Can't you use that ring to put her to sleep or something?!"

"I still don't know how to use it properly." Kren muttered as he looked at the ring in question on his finger. "Besides, I'm not sure if it's strong enough to put her to sleep." Aquarius swung her urn once again releasing giant waves of water that towered over the trees. '_Come on, Kren, think_.'

"_**Eat the water.**_"

Kren's blinked in bewilderment when he heard a voice in his head. The voice sounded soft and gentle, like a lullaby. It sounded sure that Kren knew what it was talking about and that he should too. Before Kren knew what he was doing, he removed Han from his head before setting him down and running towards the giant wave ignoring his feline companion calling out his name.

"What's he doing?" Bora muttered to himself as Kren stopped running to face the wave tightly clenching his hands into fists.

"He's going to drown!" Lucy said in concern for the other teen. She may be the one that summoned Aquarius, but she didn't want to kill anyone.

Kren closed his eyes as he took deep breaths and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He blocked out all other sounds, just focused on his breathing and the sound of the waves as they got closer and closer. There was a sharp stabbing pain in the back of Kren's head, but he ignored it before he opened his eyes and mouth as wide as he could.

"_**That is it, Kren, just like that.**_"

Suddenly, small tendrils of water left the wave and began to be sucked into Kren's mouth shocking Han, Lucy, Aquarius, and Bora as they watched the blue haired teen continue to suck in the giant wave of water. After a few seconds, Kren was able to suck up all the water from the mermaid spirit's attack causing his stomach to bulge before it returned to being flat. Kren stared at his stomach with wide eyes as he patted it with a hand. He didn't feel full at all, in fact, he felt rejuvenated and stronger. He could feel something course through his body that he never felt before.

'_Is that magic power I'm feeling?_' Kren looked down to his hands as he clenched and unclenched them feeling the power course through his body again before settling. After he finished processing that he does indeed have magic power in his body, Kren eyes widened when he realized what he just did. '_Wait, I just drank a tsunami's worth of water! Does that mean I'm a…_'

"Did you see that, Natsu?!" Kren jumped when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "He drank all that water like you do with fire!"

Kren turned to face the voice to see a young man with spiky salmon pink hair and a scaly white scarf around his neck. Standing next to him was a blue cat standing on its hind legs like Han with a green bag tied around its neck.

"Yeah, I saw, Happy." The pinked haired teen said as he eyed Kren curiously. "Do you think he's one too?"

"Aye, he's gotta be." The blue cat replied. "Maybe he'll know if Igneel passed by here."

"Only one way to find out." The pink haired teen, who Kren knew was Natsu, walked over to the blue haired teen. When he was standing in front of Kren, Natsu looked him in the eye with an intense look in his coal black eyes. "Hey, do you know where Igneel is?"

"N-no." Kren took a step back, still caught off guard by what was going on with him. "I-I don't know where he is."

"Can this wait until later?" Han asked as he walked over to them with Lucy by side and she was looking anywhere but Kren. "We still have one problem to deal with."

"Right, Aquarius." Kren nodded and turned to face the mermaid spirit again only to blink in confusion when she was nowhere to be seen. "Huh?"

"I closed her gate." Lucy explained holding up Aquarius' gate key before bowing lowly to Kren. "I'm so sorry!"

"Huh?" Kren was once again caught off guard by the blonde's sudden apology that he took a step back. "Sorry about what?"

"Han explained everything to me." Lucy said as she straightened herself and Kren could see just how genuinely guilty she felt. "He told me everything from why you took that guy's rings to him lying about being in Fairy Tail."

"He what?!" Natsu shouted as he glared towards Bora who was sweating profusely at having his cover blown.

"That's right." Han nodded crossing his arms, happy that he cleared his owner's name. "Kren and I just happened to be walking by the harbor when we heard Bora talking to his goons." Naturally, that was a lie that Han came up with to cover how they knew of Bora's plan. "He said that he would pose as Fairy Tail's Salamander and use a charm ring to make women fall for him where he would invite them to his yacht for a party."

Kren nodded in agreement reaching into his pocket to pull out the aforementioned ring. "He was then going to use the sleep ring to put the women to sleep where they would ship them to Bosco to sell as slaves."

"That's horrible." Lucy had a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes when she heard what Bora was planning. She looked towards Bora in anger that she was used to attack an innocent person. "You're the worst wizard alive!"

"And what exactly are you kids going to do about it?" Bora smirked as he stretched his arms wide open to his sides as another magic circle formed in front of him. "**Prominence Typhoon!**" spiraling column of fire was released and sent flying towards the three humans and two talking cats and engulfed them. Bora started to laugh triumphantly as the fire continued to burn brightly. "Not so tough now, are ya?!"

"Man, this stuff is nasty." Bora stopped laughing and looked to where the three teens were and saw that Natsu was sucking his flames into his mouth to his shock. After Natsu ate the last of Bora fire, he smirked. "It may not be good, but now I got a fire in my belly."

"You too?!" Bora exclaimed in shock at seeing his flames being eaten. "What the hell are you two?!"

"Heh." Natsu continued to smirk as he adjusted the scarf around his neck. "That's simple." He removed his coat to reveal a red fairy-shaped guild mark just below his right shoulder. "My name is Natsu, and I'm a Fairy Tail wizard!" He jabbed a thumb in Kren's direction. "Him, I have no idea. But one thing's for sure, we're both dragon slayers!"

"Dragon slayers?" Lucy repeated in confusion and shock to learn that the pink haired teen is a member of the guild she wanted to join.

"It's a type of magic to fight dragons." Happy explained. "His and the other guy's brand of magic is one that allows his body to take on all the qualities of a dragon. It's an ancient spell that's rarely use anymore."

"That's right." Han nodded as he glanced over to Kren who looked as astonished by Natsu's words as Lucy is. '_But why is Kren able to use dragon slayer magic?_'

"I have no idea what a dragon slayer is." Bora gritted his teeth as he formed a giant ball of purple flames over his head. "But I'm not gonna lose to you!"

"_**Time to breathe like a dragon, Kren.**_"

Once again, Kren felt a sharp stabbing pain in the back of his head when he heard the voice again. He looked over to Natsu who was looking at him and grinned before pounding his fists together. Kren knew right away what Natsu was going to do and could feel the magic power inside him waiting to be used. Kren nodded before facing Bora and pounded his fists together like Natsu did.

"_**First, focus your magic power into your lungs.**_"

Kren followed the voice's instructions and concentrated on having his magic power gather in his lungs. His body shivered at the unfamiliar feeling of Magic filling his lungs as he and Natsu crouched down slightly.

"**Fire Dragon…**" Natsu took a deep breath as his cheeks bulged and he positioned his hands like a trumpeter.

"_**Next, when you gather enough magic power, take a deep breath.**_"

"**Water Dragon…**" Kren didn't know why he said that, but it felt right to him as he took a deep breath like Natsu and positioned his hands like a trumpeter as well.

"No way." Han muttered in disbelief at what he was seeing. "Is Kren really going to…"

"Take this!" Bora threw his ball of flames toward Natsu and Kren.

"_**Finally, you release the magic power you have gathered in one shot.**_"

"**Roar!**" Red and Blue magic circles formed in front of Natsu and Kren respectively as a powerful torrent of flames was released from Natsu's magic circle and a vortex-like blast of water was released from Kren's.

The two breath attacks connected with the ball of flames and a power struggle began as they push each other to gain the upper hand. Eventually, the combined fire and water breath attacks broke the ball of flame apart and collided with Bora who screamed in pain as he was sent flying and crashing to the ground.

Kren was breathing hard as he stared at what he just did. He actually used a dragon slayer's breath attack and ate a large amount of water. He looked down to his hands in awe when it finally hit him. He's able to use magic, not just any magic, dragon slayer magic.

"Man, that felt great!" Natsu suddenly looped an arm around Kren's shoulder with a grin on his face. "I never thought I'd do something like that with another dragon slayer!"

"Me neither." Kren said with a nervous chuckle. 'I don't even know how I did all that or that I could do it in the first place.'

"Kren!" Kren looked over to see Han running over to him with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Han." Kren gave a reassuring smile to his feline companion as he looked to where Bora was. "He's still alive, right?"

"Yeah." Natsu nodded, looking in the same direction as Kren. "I can still hear his heart beating."

"That's good." Kren sighed in relief at knowing he didn't kill anyone.

"By the way." Kren looked to Natsu who was staring intensely at him again. "Who taught you how to use dragon slayer magic? Was it Igneel?"

"Uh, no, it was, um." Kren said nervously as he wrecked his brain to come up with how to explain how he's able to use dragon slayer magic.

"_**Aquacia!**_"

Kren's eyes widened when he heard the voice of an excited child instead of the soft and gentle voice from before. The image of a serpent-like dragon whose body was covered with smooth glistening blue scales. its lower body, specifically its stomach, the inner portions of its long tail, and legs, are white in color. The had a triangular and flat head, round eyes with blue sclera, and a single horn pointing upwards just above its nose. On the sides of the dragon's body are a pair of arms with three-fingered white claws. Additionally, the dragon had a pair of wings that resemble a bat with ripple tips attached to her wrists that are twice the length of its forearms.

"Aquacia." Kren muttered before he even realized his lips were moving. "The Water Dragon."

"Aquacia, huh?" Natsu sighed in disappointment as he removed his arm from Kren's shoulder. "Another lead that was a dead end."

"Cheer up, Natsu." Happy said as a pair of white feathered wings formed on his back and he floated up to the pink haired teen. "I'm sure we'll find Igneel someday."

"Yeah, you're right, Happy." Natsu grinned as he went to pick up his coat. "How about we head home now?"

"Aye sir!" Happy said happily before flying over to Natsu and landed next to him while making his wings vanish.

"You guys coming?" Natsu asked as he looked to Lucy, Kren, and Han who looked surprised.

"Really, we can come with you to Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked barely able to contain her excitement about genuinely joining the Fairy Tail guild.

"Of course." Natsu replied with a grin on his face. "Despite the misunderstanding, you seem nice." He then looked to Kren and Han. "You can come too if you guys want, everyone will get a kick that I ran into a fellow dragon slayer."

Han looked up to Kren who was deep in thought as he carefully weighed the pros and cons of accepting Natsu's offer. Kren looked down to Han, silently asking for his feline companion's opinion. "The choice is yours, Kren. Whatever you choose, I'll be there with you."

Kren smiled gratefully at Han before taking a deep breath and looked to Natsu. "Where and when do we sign up?"

* * *

**Now unto the reviews that you were kind enough to leave for me to read.**

**foxchick1: Sorry for the wait, but I hope it was well worth it.**

**Zephyr47: I'm glad that you think so and that it intrigued you. Well, you have your answer as to what magic Kren uses. Don't worry, I won't put too many OC's as that would let to future problems I don't feel like dealing with at the moment. Sorry for the wait, but I hope that this chapter was to your liking.**

**Guest: Again, sorry for the wait. Pair Kren with Lucy? I already have someone in mind for a pairing, but I'll Lucy under consideration if I change my mind.**

**PhantomGalaxy13: Glad to be here. So true, that's why I decided to take a crack at it. Again, so true, and I have quite a few things planned that are waiting to pop out. I'll be very careful as you can probably guess from the intro I had problems. But it should be smooth sailing from here on out.**

**Thank you for your time and patience and I hope to see you all again soon.**


	3. Chapter 2

**It's time for the second chapter of Advent of the Stray my readers! First of all, I'd like to apologize and reprimand myself for forgetting to add this fic to my update cycle on my profile and would like to thank Karsap for pointing that error out. Secondly, I'd also like to give a shout out to Karsap for helping me with the making of this chapter. Lastly, I wanted to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being patient with me and continued to show your support despite my going awol for a while. Now I think I kept you all waiting long enough, on with the chapter!**

Speech- "Water Dragon Roar!"

Thought- '_Water Dragon Roar!_'

Attack- "**Water Dragon Roar!**"

* * *

Chapter Two: Welcome to the Fairy Tail Family

Two days have passed since the incident in Hargeon and reporting Bora while turning in the charm ring to the proper authorities. Inside a large building atop a rocky mount in the heart of a large city surrounded by forests and snow-peaked mountains, nine individuals standing on a magic circle were discussing the incident and those involved.

"Those idiots from Fairy Tail have gone and done it again." One of the male individuals grumbled in annoyance as they watched an image of Hargeon submerged in water and a few collapsed buildings. "This time they went and destroyed an entire port!"

"What is the matter with them?" Another male individual questioned in equal annoyance.

"I'm actually quite fond of those dimwits and their lazy affair attitude." A man with short blue hair and a red tattoo over and under his right eye wearing an elegant yet simple robes; consisting of a long white frock-coat with black stripes across the edges and on the upper part of the arms, a decorated standing collar, large straps connected to decorated buckles closing the inducement on the front over a dark shirt, and matching pants and shoes said with his eyes closed and his arms crossed before an amused smirk etched itself on his face.

A short, old man with thick light-brown eyebrows and a small toothbrush mustache that reaches halfway to his mouth wearing a brown long sleeve shirt with black vertical stripes and a black three-spiked hat made a sound of agreement to the younger man's statement. "They may behave like fools, but we mustn't forget they're also an extremely capable lot."

"Yes, that's true." Another man said in thoughtful agreement. "They present quite the quandary."

"I think we should leave them be." The blue haired man suggested, his amused smirk never leaving his features. "After all, if it wasn't for those fools, think how boring this world would be."

"On another note." A pale-skinned woman with dark purple hair and brown eyes wearing a white kimono that reaches to her thighs and only had a single long left sleeve said as she waved her hand and the image in the magic circles in front of them changed to that of a lean, muscular young man of average height with fair skin, emerald green eyes, short ocean blue hair with several strands hanging between his eyes wearing a white short sleeved shirt under a green sweater vest with a blue trim, blue jeans, and a pair of brown shoes. "We cannot seem to find any information on this boy who was involved in the incident."

"None whatsoever?" The short old man asked in surprise. When the woman nodded in confirmation, he turned his attention back to the image of the teenage boy. "Then I suggest we keep a close eye on this boy, in case he's a threat to Fiore."

"Agreed." The other eight individuals nodded in agreement as they memorized the blue haired teens features.

Kren and Han along with Lucy now stood in awe in front of a large, two-story building with a sign over the double doors that had two fairies with tails to the side and the sign reads "Fairy Tail". Natsu grinned at their awe as he and Happy stood next to them.

"This is it." Happy said, raising a paw to the building in front of them. "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

'_I'm actually standing in front of the Fairy Tail guild_.' Kren thought in amazement, fighting the urge to pinch himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

Kren was forced out of his amazement when Natsu suddenly kicked the door open. "We made it back alive!"

The salamander's sudden entrance was welcomed by many greetings from the people inside the guild building that looked like a large lunch hall, and mainly consisted of wood, possessing a parquet floor and a mezzanine held up by wood beams overlooking it. Several long benches and the related tables stretched across its length with a bar in the back. Kren and Lucy stepped inside looking around the interior with excited smiles on their faces.

"So, I heard it was pretty crazy in Hargeon, Natsu." A man with buck teeth said from one of the benches. "Bet it was you starting trou-" He was cut off mid-sentence when Natsu suddenly kicked him in the face.

"Why did you do that?!" Lucy asked in surprise that Natsu would suddenly kick a guild member.

"That was probably the guy he got the information about a salamander in Hargeon." Han commented, placing his paws behind his head and leaned to the side in a laid back manner. "Poor fellow, should've dug deeper for the full details."

"No kidding." Kren muttered, giving Lucy a side glance who was still in shock at what Natsu did soon after walking in the guild hall. '_Although, if he did, then Natsu never would have met Lucy or us for that matter._'

"You lied about that Salamander!" Natsu shouted angrily at the man buried in a pile of broken tables and benches with a raised fist. "I'm gonna kick your butt!"

The bucktooth man climbed out of the pile of wood and shouted at Natsu. " Don't get mad at me, I'm not the one to blame here! I was just passing along a rumor I heard!"

"It was just a rumor?!"

"You wanna fight?! Let's go!"

Kren just stood next to Lucy as the fight between Natsu and the buck toothed man soon escalated and all the members in the building were brawling with each other. The teen leaned his head to the side to dodge a barrel-shaped mug that flew towards his direction as he continued to watch the all-out guild brawl happening in front of him.

"Oh wow." Lucy whispered with a big smile on her face as she looked around the guild hall. "I'm actually standing inside the Fairy Tail guild hall!"

"Tell me about it." Kren said in agreement with a smile that rivaled Lucy's as he dodged another mug and lightly fingering the sleep ring on his right index finger. He had turned the ring over along with the charm ring, however, the authorities decided to let him keep it as a reward for dealing with Bora. "It's amazing."

"So Natsu finally made it back, huh?!" A teen with spiky black-colored hair wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, a necklace that resembles a sword with a stone in it, and a dark blue fairy-shaped guild mark below his collarbone on his right pectoral muscle asked, surprising Lucy when she saw they all he was wearing were a pair of boxers.

'_Yup, there's no denying that face and state of undress_.' Kren thought with a sweatdrop as he covered Lucy's eyes with his hands. '_That's Gray alright._'

"It's time we settled things once and for all." Gray growled as he slowly marched towards where Natsu was fighting in the dust cloud that formed.

"Gray, your clothes?" A woman sitting by the bar pointed out with an amused smirk holding a glass of wine when Gray turned back to say he didn't have time to find his clothes.

The woman is a tall and slim tanned-skinned young woman with large brown eyes and an ample bust. She has mid-back length brown hair with two shoulder-length strands of hair frame her face, with the left one starting from a prominent, high fringe. Her outfit consists of a light blue bikini top, a pair of capri pants, with two bands hanging from each leg and a pink belt loosely tied around the waist. Her guild mark is located on the lower left part of her abdomen, right above her hips.

'_Cana Alberona, Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker._' Han thought as he jumped onto Kren's shoulder who was looking anywhere but the scantily dressed woman with a light blush on his face. Han looked to his owner and smirked at seeing the blush on the blue haired teens face. '_Oh Kren, quite the gentleman, aren't you?_'

Cana sighed at hearing Gray disregarding her mentioning his lack of clothes. "You see? I don't date the men here because they have no class."

'_Says the woman who's currently drinking through a barrel_.' Kren and Han absently thought as they watched Cana begin to chug down the contents of said barrel while Lucy just watched on in shock.

"You going to join the fight, Kren?" Han asked his owner who went back to watching the chaos that was happening around them. "Might be good practice for your magic."

"I think I'll pass." Kren replied with a sweatdrop at the thought of him joining in on the chaos that could rival a regular bar fight. "I don't even know how I did that breath attack two days ago."

"Breath attack, so I assume you're the same as Natsu, young man?" Kren turned to face who asked him the question only to have question marks dance around his head when he saw no one standing there. "Down here." Kren looked down and his eyes widened in surprise to see an extremely short, elderly man with a thick white mustache and white hair on the outer rims of his head with his hands behind his back. He was wearing a white shirt with a black guild mark in the middle under an orange hoodie with a orange and blue jester hat on his head. The old man raised a hand in greeting when he got Kren's attention. "Hey there."

"Oh, hello." Kren greeted politely, bowing to the elder man in front of him while on the inside he was trying to reign in his excitement as to not look weird in front of everyone. '_I can't believe I'm meeting Master Makarov right now!_'

"I don't believe I've seen you around here before." Makarov commented, completely ignoring the chaos that was happening around them as his full attention was on Kren. "Are you new in Magnolia, young man?"

"Uh, yes." Kren replied, finally able to calm his excitement and Han hopped onto his shoulder as not to get stepped on by anyone. "Han and I actually came to join the Fairy Tail guild after meeting Natsu."

"I see." Makarov nodded with a cheerful smile. "Well, let me be the first to welcome you both to the Fairy Tail family." His cheerful demeanor quickly turned into irritation as his eyebrow started twitching when the fighting around them got worse to the point they started to use their magic. "Excuse me for a moment." Makarov turned away and took a few steps away from Kren and Han before suddenly growing into a giant that towered over everyone and slammed his foot to catch the attention of the entire guild. "**Would you fools stop bickering like children?!**"

"He's huge!" Kren heard Lucy exclaimed in shock as the fighting in the guild hall came to a complete halt

"I'm sorry." A slim young woman of below average height with large blue eyes apologized with a cheerful smile. She has long, white hair which curls slightly at the ends, with two bangs framing her face and reaching down to her chest and a short, upward ponytail obtained by gathering and tying the hair covering her forehead. Her attire was a sleeveless maroon dress with a large, pink bow, and similarly colored trimmings frame the rather ample neckline, acting as straps, and circle around the waist. She also wore a pair of high-heeled shoes that match her dress, and accessorizes with a small chain necklace with a blue oval gem attached to it, and a bracelet made of white flowers circling her right wrist. "I didn't know you were still here, master."

"Did you say "master"?!" Lucy asked in shock before Natsu started to laugh in triumph with his hands in his hips.

'_Mirajane is too cheerful sometimes._' Han thought with a sweatdrop from his position on Kren's shoulder. '_But, that's just the way she is._'

"Man, talk about a bunch of babies!" Natsu yelled, not noticing Makarov looking towards him. "Looks like I won this-"

Natsu's words were cut off when Makarov stomped on him causing Lucy to squeak in fear and Kren sweat nervously at the fact he knew that Makarov could do worse if he felt like it and if they were enemies. Just the thought of being on the receiving end of Makarov's spells were enough to give him nightmares and Kren made a mental note to never piss off the giant old man nor make himself an enemy of Fairy Tail under any circumstance.

Makarov seems to have finally noticed Lucy as he turned his attention from Natsu to her. "**Well, seems we've another new recruit.**"

"Yes, sir!" Lucy immediately replied and gaped in fear as she watched Makarov shrink back to his normal size and stood in front of her.

Once he has reverted to his normal size, Makarov raises a hand in greeting like he did with Kren. "Nice to meet ya."

"He's tiny!" Lucy couldn't help but point out the obvious when she saw Makarov's size. "This little guy's really in charge here?"

"Of course he is." Mirajane replied, smile still in place. "Allow me to introduce the Fairy Tail guild master, Makarov!"

"And one of the Ten Wizard Saints." Kren muttered under his breath as Makarov turned away from Lucy and Mirajane before jumping and doing front flips to the second floor. The old man, however, hit his head on the wooden railing causing Kren to wince as Makarov climbed up to stand on said railing clearing his throat. 'Ouch, hope the old guy's okay.'

"You've gone and done it again, you bunch of clods!" Makarov shouted in a nagging tone of voice as he held up a stack of papers he was holding. "Just take a look at how much paperwork the magic council sent me this time! This is the biggest pile of complaints yet!"

'_I kinda feel sorry for Makarov_.' Kren thought as he looked around the guild hall to see many of the guild members had guilty looks on their faces before turning his attention back to Makarov with a smile on his face. '_But, I honestly can't wait to hear what he's about to say next!_'

"Have you lost your minds?!" Makarov shouted as his entire body shook with irritation. "All you kids are good for is getting the higher ups mad at me!"

Many of the guild members began to reflect on their actions as Makarov continued to tremble with barely contained anger. Lucy looked on nervously, worried as to what the old guild master was going to do while Han hopped off Kren's shoulder and went to stand next to Happy. Kren just continued to smile as he noticed that Makarov's shaking slowly started to lessen and knew what was going to happen next.

"However." The papers in Makarov's hand suddenly burst into flames while the old man had a grin on his face. "I say to heck with the magic council!" He tossed the burning papers into the air which Natsu caught with his mouth and began to eat it. "Now listen up, any power that surpasses reason still comes from reason, right? Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power, it is a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect synchronization." Makarov looked around to his "children" to see that he had their full attention as he continued on with his speech. "To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus, it should take over your being and pouring out of your soul! If all we do is worry about following rules, then our magic will progress! Don't let those blowhards in the council scare you, follow the path you believe in, cause that's what makes the Fairy Tail guild number one!"

Makarov finished his speech by raising his hand over his head with the back of his palm facing forward and his index finger and thumb extended. Cheers filled the guild hall as the members of Fairy Tail followed their master by making the same gesture with their hands and Kren couldn't help but join in as he thought of all the exciting adventures that are yet to come by joining this amazing guild. His gaze landed on the sleep ring on his finger before remembering the first time he used magic and how it felt to have magic energy flowing through his body. It felt incredible and comforting, especially when he sucked in all the water that Aquarius launched in her attempt to drown him and Han. Problem is that if it weren't for the voice he heard in his head, he probably never knew he could do that or the breath attack he did with Natsu. At the thought of the mysterious voice, Kren couldn't shake the feeling that it was familiar for some reason. Kren decided to file that thought away for later contemplation before approaching Natsu.

"Hey, Natsu?" Natsu turned to face Kren who had a determined look on his face. "Do you think you can teach me how to use my magic?"

"You want me to teach you?" Natsu asked in surprise, which caught the attention of nearby guild members who decided to listen in interest. "But you were using it just fine two days ago."

"That was a coincidence." Kren admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I actually don't know how I did that to be honest."

"Someone had to have taught you." Natsu pointed out, lifting up his scarf as if to prove his words right. "I wouldn't have been able to use my magic if it wasn't for Igneel."

"Aye." Happy said in agreement as his wings sprouted from his back and floated beside Natsu. "And you can't learn Dragon Slayer magic unless taught by a dragon."

"He's a dragon slayer?!" Exclaimed the guild members who were eavesdropping that quickly got the attention of the other guild members who were now looking at Kren with shocked expressions.

"Well, that answers my previous question." Makarov commented as he jumped down from the railing he was standing on before approaching Kren with a inquisitive look on his face. "But why ask Natsu to teach you if you already know how to use your magic?"

"That's just it." Kren said with a shake of his head. "I DON'T know how to use my magic."

"You don't?" Makarov raised an eyebrow at the teen's response but saw no deceit in his emerald green eyes. The old guild master hummed in thought before turning to Mirajane. "Mirajane, could you be a dear and give them their guild marks now?"

"Of course, master!" Mirajane replied, holding a stamp as she approached Kren. "Where would you like it and what color?"

"Um, blue on my forearm I guess?" His response sounded more like a question while holding out his left forearm for Mirajane to place the Fairy Tail mark. As she went on to give him his guild mark, Kren looked down to Makarov in nervous confusion. "Did I say something wrong earlier?"

"No, you didn't." Makarov replied reassuringly before turning his back to Kren who finished having his guild mark placed which was the same shade of blue as his hair before walking. "I would just like to speak with you for a moment while your friends get their marks."

'_Why do I have a feeling I'm so screwed right now?_' Kren thought as he followed Makarov through the guild hall and up the stairs into what he assumed was the guild master's office which had a desk and couch with a large window that overlooked the coast not far.

Makarov walked towards the desk with his hands behind his back before turning to face Kren. "First of all, I don't believe you told me your name, my boy."

"Huh?" Kren blinked in surprise before realizing that he really didn't introduce himself at all. "It's Kren, Kren Eshes."

Makarov nodded in acknowledgment before gesturing to the couch for Kren to sit comfortably before they continued. Kren accepted the invitation and took a seat while Makarov sat behind his desk before clasping his hands together on his desk. "Kren, could you please explain what you meant earlier about not knowing how to use your magic?"

Kren stiffened at the question before relaxing as he tried to remember everything that happened that led to him using his magic. "I don't really understand it myself, master, but there was this voice telling me to do what I did in Hargeon."

"A voice?" Makarov raised an eyebrow at the blue haired teens' response. When Kren nodded, the old guild master straightened his posture. "Can you describe this voice to me, lad?"

"I'll try." Kren closed his eyes in concentration as he tried to remember all he could about the voice he heard. "It was really soft and gentle, almost like someone was singing a lullaby with a slight echo."

When he thought back to the image of the serpent-like dragon from before, Kren felt the start of a horrible headache which didn't go unnoticed when Makarov's eyes narrowed slightly at seeing Kren's hand quickly raised to clutch his head and his contorted in pain. Kren pushed on, however, trying to ignore the throbbing pain as he recalled everything that happened in Hargeon.

"Don't push yourself, child." Makarov said softly, hopping out of his seat and approached Kren to place a reassuring hand on the teen's knee. "It's alright if you don't remember, that just means you'll have to relearn everything."

"Don't remember?" Kren opened an eye through the pain he was feeling to look at Makarov in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me, Kren my boy, do you remember anything before the age of ten?" Makarov inquired, which both confused and surprised as he just shook his head as he really didn't remember anything before he was ten. "I see, then it's as I thought."

"What?" Kren asked in worry as Makarov removed his hand from the teen's knee and placed it behind his back. "Please tell me."

"You have amnesia, as I'm sure you're already aware of." Makarov explained getting a nod from the blue haired teen.

Kren already knew he had amnesia the day his parents found him and brought him to a hospital to be treated. From what he could remember, his parents were celebrating their wedding anniversary when they found him lying on the beach badly injured. When he regained consciousness, he was scared because he didn't know where he was until a doctor walked in and explained where he was and who brought him. They ran a few tests and soon discovered that Kren had retrograde amnesia which was a loss of memory of events or information learned in the past. The doctors did everything they could to find the cause of his amnesia only to find he had no head injury and he was perfectly healthy. The only remaining conclusion is that Kren experienced something traumatic that made him want to forget what happened. The reason he remembers his name was because it was embroidered on the clothes he was wearing that day. He was later adopted by the couple who found him but kept his last name and he has been living a happy life ever since.

"But what you aren't aware of is that your amnesia wasn't caused by normal means." Makarov's voice snapped Kren out of his thoughts as the old guild master frowned. "I didn't notice it before, but when you started showing signs of a headache, I sensed small traces of another wizard's magic coming off of you."

"What?" Kren whispered, eyes widened in shock and fear when he processed Makarov's words as he brought his hands in front of his face and stared at them. "You mean that someone…"

Makarov just nodded grimly as Kren slowly put the pieces together to the difficult puzzle that was his life. It all made sense now that he thought about it, it explains why he had no previous medical records, why his hair was naturally ocean blue, why his senses were much sharper than a normal person's, everything. It was so much for the teen to process that his headache got worse he had to suppress a shout of pain as his hands tightly gripped his head in an attempt to ease it. As if a flip was switched, images began to flash one after another in rapid succession that he could barely make out what they were. Slowly but surely, Kren's headache lessened to a dull throb as the images became clearer as they flash before his eyes and right away the teen knew what these images were.

"I-I remember." Kren whispered so softly that Makarov had to strain his ears to hear what the blue haired teen had said.

"You remember?" Makarov asked, slowly easing Kren's hands away from his head and set them down on the teen's lap as he looked the newest child in his Fairy Tail family in the eyes. "Remember what, my boy?"

"My magic." Was Kren's only response as he looked down to his hands and brought one up with the palm facing upwards before a magic circle formed followed by a floating orb of water. Makarov noticed that Kren looked exhausted, but that didn't stop a small, happy smile etching itself on his face. "I remember how to use my magic."

Makarov sighed in relief at hearing that Kren remembered how to use his magic, a smile gracing his old features and gave the teen a pat on the knee. "That's a relief to hear, child. Do you remember anything else?" His frown returned when Kren shook his head sadly before willing the water orb to disperse into a mist that soon vanished. "So it would seem that only your memories about your magic returned." It was then that the old guild master remembered something before smiling reassuringly to Kren. "Don't worry, I think I know someone who could help."

"You do?" Kren asked, hope evident in his voice as the thought of remembering everything about himself might be possible.

"Yes." Makarov nodded in confirmation before walking towards the door with Kren quickly following. "We can go see her tomorrow. For now, how about spending the day getting acquainted with your fellow guild members?"

"Sounds good." Kren nodded, giving the old guild master a grateful smile. "Thank you so much, Master Makarov."

Makarov laughed at Kren's gratitude as they began to descend down the stairs to the first floor. "We're a family here in Fairy Tail, what kind of parent would I be if I didn't try to help one of my children?"

Kren joined Makarov in his laughter as they reached the first floor and the teen noticed that there was a dent in the request board. When Kren looked around the guild hall, he noticed that Natsu and Happy were missing. Han, who was sitting next to Lucy at the bar, noticed him and waved him over. The teen approached them and took a seat beside Han and looked towards the request board again before it clicked in his head what happened.

"Excuse me, Mira?" Kren said getting the attention of the girl behind the counter. "Can I have some water?" The teen noted he was still exhausted from remembering how to use his magic and quickly rephrased his request. "Actually, can that be a barrel instead?"

"Of course, coming right up." Mirajane replied, acting as if the teen didn't just ask for something surprising and went to get a barrel of water. Lucy and Han gaped at Kren and continued to do so when Mirajane brought a barrel of water. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Kren used both hands to lift up the barrel and began to chug down the contents inside, relishing the feeling of his energy returning with each passing second. Once the barrel was empty, Kren let out a sigh of content and set the barrel on the counter. "I needed that."

"Yo-you just drank an entire barrel of water in under five seconds." Lucy pointed out, pointing a shaky finger at the blue haired teen. "How is that even possible?"

"It shouldn't be that surprising." Kren replied, casting a grin Lucy's way that showed his abnormally sharp canines. "I'm a dragon slayer after all." He then looked around the guild hall again. "Speaking of which, where's Natsu and Happy?"

Lucy's shock turned melancholy before looking to the entrance of the guild hall. "They went to Mount Hakobe to save someone named Macao for his son Romeo." She looked to Mirajane for help in explaining the situation.

"It's probably because Natsu and Romeo have a lot in common." Mirajane explained when Kren turned his attention to her. "I think he sees himself in romeo. Just because we're members of Fairy Tail, it doesn't mean we don't have our own personal issues, we've all had our fair share of suffering and loss."

"Do you mean Igneel?" Han asked, nibbling on a piece of fish. "Natsu mentioned him before."

"Yes." Mirajane nodded before turning around to sort the bottles of alcohol on the shelf. "Many years ago, Natsu's father left and never came back. Well, technically it wasn't his real father but the one who raised him, he was actually a dragon."

Lucy had a look of shock as she pictured a fire breathing dragon. "He was a what?! Natsu was really raised by a dragon?!"

'_Guess she didn't hear this story yet._" Kren thought in amusement as Mirajane nodded her head. As he heard Mirajane tell the story of Natsu and Dragneel, Kren couldn't help but think of the dragon that raised him and longed to remember them. The only thing he remembered about the dragon was what they looked like and their name. '_Aquacia, I hope I remember you soon._'

"So, that dragon must have been Igneel." Lucy as she pieced together Mirajane's story.

"That's right." Mirajane nodded, turning to face them with a sad smile. "And Natsu lives for the day when he'll finally see Igneel again. It's kinda cute, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it kinda is." Lucy said softly before getting to her feet clenching her fists in determination. "Alright, I'm going with him to save Macao!"

"Count me in." Kren also got to his feet clenching a fist that was soon covered in an orb of water and grinned at the surprised looks on Lucy and Han's faces. "After all, us members in Fairy Tail have each other's back."

* * *

Currently in a horse drawn carriage, Natsu and Kren were leaning against each other each with a hand over their mouths to fight off the wave of nausea that made the two dragon slayers too weak to move a muscle. Sitting across from them was Lucy who looked at the two with pity while Han and Happy were sitting on the floor discussing which fish tasted better.

"Why did you guys come with us?" Natsu asked weakly, holding his stomach as it felt like it was in knots.

"I thought maybe I could help." Lucy replied, fiddling with her gate keys to make sure they were tightly secured before looking at Natsu and Kren. "Wow, you really do have a serious case of motion sickness, don't you?" Lucy sighed before placing her hands on her cheeks and shook her head in pity. "It's just another reason to feel sorry for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing, forget I said anything."

'_Well, isn't this ironic?_' Kren weakly thought, fighting the urge to jump out of the carriage and walk the rest of the way. '_A water dragon slayer who gets motion sick, just think what'll happen when I'm on a boat._' Just the thought was enough to make Kren fight to keep down the bile that wants to come out. Suddenly, the carriage came to a complete stop which immediately made him and Natsu feel better. '_Are we there?_'

"I guess we're there." Lucy commented when the carriage stopped.

"Alright, we've stopped moving!" Natsu yelled, doing a little dance as he spewed out fire.

"Thank god." Kren sighed as he felt the waves of nausea leave his system. "I was about ready to lose my breakfast."

"Okay, I really didn't need to know that." Lucy sweatdropped at Kren's comment, a hand hovering over her whip. "If you lost it on me, then you wouldn't be able to sit down for months."

"I'm sorry, but this is as far as I can get you." The carriage driver apologized as the three wizards and their feline companions exited the carriage to see that they were near a large mountain covered in snow and a huge blizzard.

"Where the heck are we, Natsu?!" Lucy asked loudly over the gusty winds so she could be heard. "It's a frozen wasteland!"

"It's Mount Hakobe!" Kren explained as he hopped off the carriage with Han in his arms. "Because of the climate here, it snows all year-round no matter what the season it is right now!"

"That's crazy!" Lucy shouted as She and Kren followed Natsu down the snowy path up the mountain. "How can it snow all year-round when it's summer?! There shouldn't be a blizzard like this anywhere!"

"That's what you get for wearing light clothing." Natsu commented while Kren gave his fellow dragon slayer a flat look while holding a blanket he wrapped himself in tightly to keep warm.

"Says the human furnace!" Lucy shouted as she tried to take the blanket out of Natsu's backpack.

"Maybe I should have pointed out that it was going to be cold out here." Kren said under his breath when he saw that Lucy finally got the blanket from Natsu and pulled out one of her silver gate keys.

"Open, Gate of the clock constellation, **Horologium!**" With a swing of Lucy's key, a magic circle formed in front of followed by the ringing of a doorbell before a tall brown grandfather clock with long, black arms, a glass case, a Roman-numerical clock at the center and a small face at the top with slit eyes and a thin, twirly, mustache-like mouth appeared.

"A clock, whoa." Natsu said in awe at seeing a grandfather clock appear out of thin air.

"That is so cool!" Happy said as Lucy climbed inside the clock spirit and wrapped the blanket around herself before starting talking which couldn't be heard through the glass.

"Lucy, we can't hear you!" Han shouted, tapping on the glass case of the clock spirit.

"She says 'I'm staying in here and I'm not coming out.'" Horologium relayed Lucy's words while Kren looked on curiously.

"Then why'd you tag along?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"'What kind of crazy job would force Macao to come to a place like this?' She inquires." Horologium said, relaying Lucy exact words for the others to hear.

"You should have asked that before you came with us." Natsu said, crossing his arms while Kren and Han lightly poked Horologium. "He went to slay a Volcan, it's a big monster."

Kren noticed that Lucy looked a bit scared as Natsu and Happy continued down the path. "'I want to go back to the guild!' She proclaims." Horologium said in Lucy's stead.

"Go ahead and be my guest, I say back." Natsu replied.

"Aye."

"Natsu." Kren sighed as he knelt down slightly, pulling his blanket closer to himself. "He needs to remember that Lucy's a girl."

"Don't forget about the girls Natsu knows." Han pointed out, his tail sweeping off the snow that piled on his head. "They all know how to defend themselves."

"That's true." Kren nodded, getting to his feet again and walked a bit towards the edge of the path to see how far up they were.

"'Careful, you'll fall!' She exclaims frantically." Horologium said from his position on the path as Lucy slammed her hand on the glass a few times.

"Relax." Kren looked back to give the blond a reassuring grin. "I'm not gonna fall like some idiot." Suddenly, the ground he was standing on started to crumble, causing the blue haired dragon slayer to let out a startled yell as he flailed his arms frantically.

"Kren!" Han shouted in worry as he grabbed onto Kren's pant leg to attempt to prevent the water dragon slayer from falling only for the both of them to fall off the edge of the path and began to tumble down the cliff, becoming a large snowball as they continued to roll down the cliff. They eventually reached the bottom of the cliff as the snowball became a pile of snow with two pairs of legs sprouting out on top of it. "Kren, are you alright?"

"No." Kren's muffled voice could barely be heard under the snow as the water dragon slayer tried to get himself free from the snow pile but couldn't as his legs flailed helplessly. Kren eventually got himself and Han free and held his feline companion close in his arms. The water dragon slayer shuddered with chattering teeth as he got to his feet. "W-w-w-we are never d-d-d-doing that a-a-a-again."

"Agreed." Han said in agreement, snuggling closer in Kren's arms who stopped shivering at the warmth Han's fur was providing. "How about we go meet up with Natsu and Lucy now?"

"Good idea." Kren nodded and took a step only to jump back when what appeared to be needles made of ice pierced the ground he once stood. Kren's eyes narrowed as he carefully surveyed his surroundings for what might have unleashed the attack on him. "Something's out there."

"But what?" Han asked, his gaze still on the ice needles that nearly turned them into pin cushions before he too looked around for their attacker. "I don't see anything."

"It's probably camouflaged right now." Kren muttered, sniffing the air for a moment before jumping to the side to avoid another flurry of ice needles. "No good, all this snow's masking its scent."

"Not to mention this blizzard makes it hard enough to see as it is." Han commented as Kren quickly rolled away from what appeared to be a beam that instantly froze a rabbit-like creature in a block of ice. Han's eyes widened at the sight before looking up to Kren in panic "How can you fight something you can't see?!"

"I got an idea." Kren said suddenly, placing Han down before crossing his arms as water began to cover them. "**Water Dragon Wing Attack!**" Waving his arms like a dragon flapping its wings, Kren released whips of water that slammed into the snowy ground. Kren continued to do this before something caught his eyes and grinned when his ears heard what sounded like a yelp of pain. "Got ya!"

Kren willed the water whips away and looked over to his attack to see it was a fox with pure white fur, red eyes, and three long swiping tails growling at him with the front half of its body crouched slightly.

"What is that thing?" Han wondered as he focused magic energy to his back like how Happy mentioned during the carriage ride to Mount Hakobe. A magic circle formed over him as white feathered wings sprouted from the feline's back before flying over Kren and the mysterious fox to get a good view of the fight and stay out of Kren's way.

"I'm guessing not an ordinary fox." Kren replied as he raised his fists and spread out his legs never taking his eyes off the fox in front of him. "One thing's for sure, we won't be able to help Natsu unless I beat this thing first."

"Good luck Kren." Han said as he flew higher into the air. "I know you can beat this thing."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Kren grinned up to Han before focusing back on the fox whose fur began to bristle before needles made of ice were released towards Kren. "**Water Dragon Talon!**" Kren swung a leg that released a blade of water deflecting the needles. Thinking fast, Kren took a deep breath positioning his hands like a trumpeter. "**Water Dragon Roar!**" A magic circle formed when the vortex of water was released traveling fast towards the fox who leaped out of the way.

"It's fast." Han muttered at seeing how the fox swiftly ran around before the winged feline lost track of it when it's fur blended in with the snow. "I lost it!"

"It's fine, Han." Kren said reassuringly as he crossed his arms. "I'll just force it out of hiding again. **Water Dragon-**" Kren quickly jumped to the side to dodged another beam. "So it won't let me do that again, at least it's smart."

"Now's not the time to compliment how smart it is!" Han shouted, flying to the side to dodge the ice needles the fox fired his way.

Kren's ears twitched when he heard what sounded like a twig snapping and started to run where he heard the sound. "**Water Dragon Crushing Fang!**" Kren covered his right hand in a thin layer of water before swiping down at the ground that was followed by five blades of water that resembled fangs that made a cloud of snow. Knowing that he missed, Kren looked around in the snow cloud he created in his attack to find any trace of the fox. "Damn, where is it? This would be a lot easier if I could smell it."

"Come on, Kren!" Han cheered as he hovered over Kren as the snow cloud slowly dispersed from the strong winds of the blizzard. "Don't you know any spells to track it?!"

"If I did then I wouldn't be having this problem." Kren muttered under his breath before a tingly feeling forced him to jump back as more ice needles pierced the ground he was standing on. Kren felt a stabbing pain and looked down to his leg to see that one of the ice needles managed to cut him on his thigh. "That's not good."

"Kren's been hurt." Han said, worry evident in his voice when movement behind Kren caught his attention and his eyes widened in horror. "Kren, behind you!"

Kren turned in time to see the fox had lunged at him and prepared to jump out of the way. However, the wound on his thigh protested, causing the dragon slayer to cringe in pain before the fox pushed him to the ground and pinned down his arms with its clawed paws. Kren grunted in discomfort as the claws dug into his skin but kept his focus on the fox as its mouth glowed with magic energy as it prepared to fire another beam at point blank to instantly freeze the human under it.

'_Damn, that's what it was aiming for!_' Kren thought as he fought to free himself from the fox's hold on him only for it to push down on him to keep the dragon slayer still. '_It can't end like this, I just remembered I'm from here and I haven't remembered Aquacia yet!_' Kren looked around for anything nearby to use as a distraction when realization dawned on him before smirking confidently up to the confused fox.

'_Kren's smirking!_' Han thought with a hopeful smile that turned into a smirk matching the dragon slayer's. '_That means that this battle's over_."

"You know what, I take back what I said about you being smart." Kren suddenly said as his smirk grew before his cheeks began to bulge. The fox's eyes widened in realization but it was too late to jump away from the dragon slayer. "**Water Dragon Roar!**" Kren released his breath attack directly at the fox's chest pushing it off him and into the cliff face he and Han just fell from. Once the attack was finished, the fox slumped down in defeat, twitching a few times before lying motionless.

"Way to go, Kren!" Han shouted excitedly before flying down to Kren who got to his feet and patted off the snow that clung onto his clothes. "That'll teach that nasty fox, don't mess with the Leviathan of Fairy Tail!"

"It wasn't a walk in the park, Han." Kren chuckled as he continued to pat off snow but paused when he processed what his feline companion just said. "Wait, Leviathan?"

"I figured since Natsu had a nickname, I'd come up with one for you." Han explained, his paws on his hips and chest puffed out. "What do you think, fits you quite nicely if I do say so myself."

Kren opened his mouth to respond when his words were halted by the sound of an explosion that seemed to get louder. Kren and Han looked up at the source of the sound and their eyes widened in panic when they learned what was making the sound.

"AVALANCHE!" The dragon slayer and winged felined yelled as they saw a large mass of snow tumbling down the mountain that Kren's breath attack slammed the fox into. The ground began to shake as the mass of snow got closer. WIthout thinking, Kren grabbed both Han and the fox and turned to run as fast as he could before a stinging pain from his thigh caused him to fall.

"I forgot about my leg." Kren gritted his teeth as he turned to his side and looked down to his thigh where the wound was to see that his leg was covered with frozen blood. "What I wouldn't give to know a healing spell right about now."

"We need to get out of here, Kren!" Han shouted frantically, climbing out of Kren's arms as the avalanche got closer with each passing second. Han grabbed the dragon slayer by the collar of his shirt before taking to the sky with a strong flap of his wings just as the avalanche reached the bottom of the mountain they just were. Han let out a sigh of relief as he tightened his grip on Kren. "Phew, now that was a close one."

"Yeah." Kren nodded in agreement as he watched the avalanche begin to settle before smiling up to Han. "Good thing you had wings to get us out of there."

Han rolled his eyes at how his owner was trying to play off almost being buried alive as an everyday thing when the dragon slayer was obviously shaking from the near-death experience. Han didn't voice this, though, as he was also scared but thrilled at the same time at the events that occurred. "Let's just try and find Natsu and Lucy."

"Aye aye captain." Kren replied with a salute getting a laugh from his feline companion.

* * *

They continued to fly through Mount Hakobe in search for the rest of their group when Han caught sight of Natsu, Lucy, and Happy with a slim, mildly muscular man with short, straight, slicked back dark blue hair and the lower part of his face is covered in quite a large amount of stubble, which includes a thin mustache. He wore an open knee-length white jacket, with a wide, dark purple collar and matching edges, with the sleeves rolled up under a dark shirt. A pair of brown, pinstriped pants held up by a lighter-colored belt bearing a snake-like pattern, with a simple, square-shaped buckle and around his neck was a large, serpentine necklace, which was held up by a chain.

"There they are, and it looks like they have Macao." Han said, pointing in their direction of Natsu and Lucy who each had one of Macao's arms over their shoulders to support him.

"That's good to hear." Kren said, sighing in relief at the sight of the middle-aged man. "Though, we already knew he would be fine."

"Yup." Han nodded in agreement before smirking down to the dragon slayer he was carrying. "But admit it, you wanted to fight that Volcan too."

"Maybe a little." Kren admitted, pinching his thumb and index finger together, leaving a small gap between them. He then looked down to the fox corpse he was still holding in his arms. "But this little guy was a good challenge too."

"Tell me again why you took that with you?" Han asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion as to why the dragon slayer would want to hold on to a fox corpse.

"I thought we could sell its fur or something." Kren replied, looking up to Han to see that his feline friend still looked confused and elaborated. "We still don't have currency from this world to buy anything let alone rent a place, so I thought we could sell the fur for a little money to stay at an inn for a while."

"I forgot about that." Han admitted with a slight blush that was hidden by his fur. The winged feline chuckled as he slowly descended when Natsu and Lucy started waving at them. "Thinking ahead as usual, huh, Kren."

"It's what I do best." Kren grinned, waving back to Natsu and Lucy as his thoughts wandered to a certain image of a serpent-like dragon in the middle of a lake. '_Aquacia, I'll do my best to remember you as I live in this world, our world._'

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter everyone, now onto your reviews!**

**Zephyr47: Yup, sorry for the wait. I'm happy to hear you thought it was great. Thank you, I wanted to do something a bit different from canon and I'm glad to hear you liked it. Rest assured that I have a lot planned for Kren in the other arcs and I'm afraid I'm keeping Kren's pairing a secret until the grand reveal. I'm a sucker for romance too. Thanks, I'm going to need all the luck I can get.**

**Haro654: Good guess, but no. The dragon's name is spelled Aquacia (Pronounced as A-qua-she-a) and they are somewhat involved, but not in the way you're probably thinking.**

**Karsap: Sorry about that, I fixed that problem so it should be there now.**

**With that said, farewell until the next chapter, my lovely readers!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Greetings my readers, I am pleased to announce that the next chapter of "Advent of the Stray" is now up! It took a while, but with the help of Karsap, this chapter is finally ready for you to read and enjoy. I'd also like to announce that I have decided to write a new fanfic and have a poll up right now to decide which of two ideas will be used, so I would be eternally grateful if you left a vote after reading this chapter. Thank you in advance for those who took the time to leave a vote. Now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Three: Infiltrate the Everlue Mansion and Memories of Mother

A week has passed since Kren and Han's adventure on Mount Hakobe. Though they couldn't help rescue Macao, Kren was still proud of his first independent fight against a three tailed fox. He later learned after returning to the guild that the fox he defeated was a Blizzard Fox, a crafty creature that freezes its victims in ice. There was a request on the request board from a merchant to subjugate it with a reward of 100,000 Jewel. After hearing how much the reward was, Kren immediately went to the client to let them know of the fox's defeat and collect the reward. With the money, he and Han were able to rent an apartment a few blocks from the guild for 80,000 Jewel a month.

After that was done, Kren and Makarov went to the East Forest just outside of Magnolia to visit an old friend of his. The friend in question was a slim and tall elderly woman with pink hair, tied in a bun on the back of her head by two large pins with crescent moon-shaped edges, and with two bangs of hair left framing her face. She has reddish eyes, and a beauty mark located below her mouth, on the left side of her face. She wore a dark green blouse with a tie around the collar, paired with a long matching skirt and simple shoes. Over this, she sports a crimson-colored cape, with a wide collar decorated by massive Dragon horn-like decorations protruding outwards, and edges adorned by white, arch-like motifs.

This woman is Porlyusica, a very skilled healer where her specialty are ailments caused by magic. Makarov took Kren to her in hopes she would know the cause of the dragon slayer's amnesia and possibly have a cure. It was, however, for naught as even Porlyusica had no knowledge of the spell used on Kren and therefore couldn't cure him. This left the young dragon feeling down but determined to get his memories back no matter how difficult or painful it could be.

"Tell me again why we're visiting Lucy?" Han asked as he and Kren walked through the streets of Magnolia.

"Natsu should be breaking into her apartment right about now, Han." Kren replied, looking up to the sky to watch the cloud float by. "There was something I wanted to ask him."

"Does it have to do with Aquacia?" Han asked curiously as his tail swayed from side to side.

"Yeah." Kren nodded, his eyes never leaving the sky as he brought a hand up and formed a floating orb of water. "It's a long shot, but I was hoping Natsu would know something about Aquacia."

"You really want to remember Aquacia, huh?" Han gave the water dragon slayer a small understanding smile before using his magic to sprout his wings to float up and gently pat Kren's hair. "I'm sure you'll remember them in no time."

"Thanks, Han." Kren smiled back at the flying feine as he tossed the orb of water into the canal before plucking the feline from the air and held him in his arms as they neared Lucy's apartment. The dragon slayer took notice that the window was open and had a slight smirk on his face. "And cue shouting in three, two, one."

"My bedroom!" Lucy's shout was soon followed by a loud thwack which Kren assumes was the blond celestial wizard kicking Natsu and Happy into a wall. "Get the heck out of here, you jerks!"

"Well, shall we go in?" Han asked over the sound of Lucy's shouting as he looked up to Kren. "Can't ask your questions out here."

"Yeah." Kren nodded in agreement before walking in the apartment building and up the stairs. "Let's just hope Lucy's calmed down a bit when we get to her door." As he reached the second floor, Kren began to sniff the air before walking past a few doors before stopping in front of one. "This one's hers."

"You know, it's kinda creepy how you found her apartment." Han said with a sly smile, nudging the blushing dragon slayer's arm with an elbow. "Don't get arrested now."

"Shut up." Kren muttered under his breath before bringing up a hand to knock on the door.

The door opened to reveal the surprised face of Lucy, fully dressed, when she answered to see who was at her door. "Kren, Han!"

"Hey, Lucy." Han said, paw raised in greeting as his tail lazily swung from side to side.

"We thought we'd visit and see how you were settling in." Kren explained, tilting his head to look over the blond girl's shoulder to see Natsu and Happy peeking through a doorway. "But it looks like someone beat us to it."

"At least you two had the decency to use the door." Lucy let out a sigh before stepping to the side. "Well come on in, might as well despite not being ready for guests."

"Pardon the intrusion." Kren politely nodded his head before walking inside and setting Han down.

"Nice place." Han commented as he looked around the apartment before giving Kren a deadpan stare. "A lot better than our apartment."

"Beggars can't be choosers, Han." Kren sweat dropped at the stare before turning his attention to Lucy who had a silver key out. "Anyway, what were you guys doing before I knocked?"

"I was going to show Natsu and Happy how to make a contract with a celestial spirit." Lucy replied, guiding the two to her bedroom where the fire dragon slayer and his feline companion waited. "You guys wanna watch too?"

"Sure." Kren nodded as he and Han moved to stand beside Natsu and Happy to give the celestial wizard space. "Whenever you're ready."

"Alright, pay attention." Lucy turned her back to the two dragon slayers and their feline companions before holding out the silver key in front of her. "I call upon thee in the world of the celestial spirits. I beckon you to my side at once. Pass through the gate." Once she had finished the incantation, a magic circle formed under Lucy's feet.

'_Whoa, this totally beats watching it from a television screen._' Kren thought in amazement at the fact he was witnessing one of his favorite female characters using her magic up close. The water dragon slayer was secretly relieved that she wasn't doing it to attack him this time and the spirit in question is harmless. '_Well, the only thing dangerous about it is its nose._'

"Open, Gate of Canis Minor. Come, **Nichola**." Lucy said as she swung the silver key, forming another magic circle followed by the ringing of a doorbell. Yellow tendrils left the magic circle before converging in the air to form a sphere that vanished with a resounding pop. In the sphere's place was a shaking short and stout white creature with bland eyes and a golden horn-like nose.

Natsu and Happy gasped at the sight of the creature before waving a hand, or paw in Happy's case. "Nice try."

"Shut up! I meant to do that." Lucy shouted at the duo before looking down to the spirit she summoned before she knelt down to cuddle the spirit. "Aww, you are such a cutie-patootie."

"I guess that saying is true." Han muttered, looking up towards Kren and pointing at Lucy. "You know, "cuteness is in the eyes of the beholder" or something like that?"

"It's "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder", Han." Kren corrected as he watched the celestial wizard cuddle the pointy nosed spirit. "But you're right."

"It doesn't take much magic power to get these little guys through the gate." Lucy explained, having caught Kren and Han's stare while Natsu and Happy stood next to them. "So a lot of wizards actually keep them as pets."

"You know, this whole pet thing doesn't sit well with me." Happy loudly whispered to Natsu, using his wings to be at eye level with the fire dragon slayer.

"Not with a weird master like Loony here." Natsu whispered back in an equal volume and Kren face palmed when he saw the look on Lucy's face.

"My name is Lucy and I can still hear you." Lucy pulled out a notepad and pencil before focusing her attention to the spirit in front of her. "Well, let's start working on our contract."

"It's pretty much asking what days they're free." Kren whispered lowly in Natsu's ear before gesturing to the other side of the apartment. Once they were out of earshot, but still close enough to watch Lucy forming a contract, Kren took a deep breath before turning to face Natsu. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something, Natsu."

"Ask me what?" Natsu blinked in confusion, looking back to Lucy who was still writing down the days the spirit was available before looking back to his fellow dragon slayer.

"Has Igneel ever met a water dragon named Aquacia?" Kren asked, feeling a slight throbbing in the back of his head at the mention of Aquacia.

"That's your dragon, right?" Natsu asked before crossing his arms and looking down in thought, scratching his head for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, I don't think he has."

"Oh." Kren let out a sigh of disappointment before giving Natsu a small smile. "It was worth a shot. Thanks, Natsu."

"Great, well, that just about does it." Lucy's voice caught the two dragon slayers' attention to see she was smiling to the spirit.

"That was pretty easy." Happy mumbled with Han nodding agreement.

"It may seem silly to you, but it's really important." Lucy said as she pocketed the notepad and got to her feet. "You see, a celestial wizard's contract relies on the promise that's made between the wizard and the spirit, which is why I make it a point to always keep my promises."

"Keeping your promises means you build trust, right?" Kren added, getting the attention of Natsu and Happy. "At least, that's what I think is important for a celestial wizard and spirit."

"That's right." Lucy said before kneeling down in front of the spirit. "Okay, now, I just need to come up with a name."

"Isn't it Nichola?" Happy asked curiously.

"No, that's the species." Lucy replied, looking up and placing a finger on her chin in thought before snapping her fingers. "Oh, I know." She then looked to the spirit with a smile and held her arms out. "Come here, Plue."

"Plue, huh?" Natsu and Happy repeated with uncertainty while Kren and Han immediately thought of another Plue that was hunting special stones.

"I think it's the cutest name ever." Lucy said as she held the now named Plue in her arms before looking down to the spirit. "Right, little Plue?"

"It's better than Shabutaro." Kren muttered under his breath as he stared at the shaking spirit. '_I mean, what kind of name is that?_'

"So even though his sign is the little dog, he doesn't bark?" Happy asked curiously from his position on Lucy's table next to Han. "That's kind of weird."

"Well, I don't hear you meowing over there, buddy." Lucy pointed out before setting Plue down who then began to do many awkward movements catching the attention of everyone present. "Whoa, what's he doing?"

"Potty dance, maybe?" Han suggested, getting a side glance from Kren that screamed "You're kidding, right?"

"Oh, man, you're right about that, Plue." Natsu said, giving the dog spirit a thumbs up which he returned.

"You can understand him?!" Lucy asked in surprise before Natsu began to silently stare at her much to her discomfort before he directed it towards Kren. "What's your deal?"

"You know, it's rude to stare at people." Kren said, taking a step back from the sudden stare. '_Even though I already know what happens next._'

"Alright, then it's settled." Natsu suddenly said with a big grin on his face. "You guys are gonna be part of our team."

"Your team?" Lucy asked in confusion at the dragon slayer's sudden declaration.

"Aye." Happy raised a paw to get the celestial wizard's attention while Kren took a seat in one of the chairs to listen. "Even though everybody in the guild is allied to one another, some members that get along really well get together and form teams within the guild." While Happy explained teams to Lucy, Kren was picturing the blue feline wearing a scholar's hat while holding a pointers stick and textbook. "That way, jobs that may be too hard for one person to take can get done by a team."

"Awesome, let's do it!" Lucy said excitedly while Kren and Han gave each other knowing looks before they turned to pity as she and Natsu high fived each other.

"Cool, so you're gonna work with us?"

"Yup, you have my word."

"What about you, Kren?" Nastu asked as he turned to face the water dragon slayer.

"Let me think." Kren crossed his arms and hummed thoughtfully before smiling and giving the fire dragon slayer a thumbs up. "Count me and Han in."

"Okay, team, then let's get to work!" Natsu declared as he pulled out a piece of paper and held it to an excited Lucy. "I've got our first job right here."

"It's all happening so fast. Let me see what you got there." Lucy took the paper from Natsu, not noticing the glint in his eyes or Kren shaking his head in pity as she read the contents. "So it's in Shirotsume, huh?" As she continued reading, Kren saw Happy, Plue, and Han doing a number of different dances on the celestial wizard's table. "No way! 200,000 Jewel just for taking a book from some rich guy named Duke Everlue?!"

"Should be a piece of cake, right?" Natsu asked cheerfully while Kren went behind Lucy to read what was written on the paper.

"You might not be so ecstatic when you read the rest, Lucy." Kren said as he pointed to a line on the paper before reading it aloud. "'Please note: Everlue's a dirty old man who's currently looking for maids with blond hair.'"

"Wait, what?" Lucy asked, eyes wide in shock as she read the line Kren had recited before she started to shake.

"We know a blond-haired girl, don't we?" Natsu asked Happy as the gears in Lucy's head began to turn.

"Yup, and I bet we can find her a maid's uniform." Happy replied as Kren placed a sympathetic hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"Why you sneaky little-" Lucy started softly before bursting into tears and gripping her head. "That's not fair!"

"And to make matters worse, you gave your word." Han pointed out, much to Lucy's dismay as the feline jumped off the table and onto Kren shoulder. "Now you're stuck with them."

"But they tricked me!"

"Doesn't change the fact that celestial wizard's never go back on their word, you said it yourself." Natsu said with a wide grin while Lucy slumped to her hands and knees in defeat. "Oh, lighten up, would ya? Now try getting into character and address Happy here as your master."

"No way!"

"Hope you're ready, Kren." Han said, patting the side of Kren's head sympathetically. "Because your stomach's going to hate you soon."

"Don't remind me."

* * *

Sitting inside a carriage being towed by a purple boar was Natsu, Kren, Happy, Han, and Lucy, who had a mischievous smirk on her face as she watched Natsu lean against the wall of the carriage while holding his stomach. Kren was in a similar state except he had one hand over his stomach while the other was over his mouth. Both dragon slayers' faces were blue from the nausea that overtook them the moment the carriage started to move.

"Are you enjoying your carriage ride today, master?" Lucy asked sarcastically as she enjoyed her petty revenge on the fire dragon slayer. "Anything I can get for you?"

"I could really use a barf bag right about now." Natsu weakly replied, slouching in his seat as another wave of nausea stuck him.

"Make that two." Kren added, seeming like he was fighting the urge to jump out of the moving carriage and run the rest of the way to Shirotsume.

"I'm playing the part of the master so I should be giving the orders!" Happy shouted in protest while Han just sat next to Kren and rubbed the water dragon slayer's back.

"Shut up, you stupid feline!" Lucy shouted, getting a glare from Han as he took offense of being called stupid despite not being directed at him. Lucy sweat dropped at the glare and laughed nervously. "No offense, Han."

"I'm going to try and sleep this nausea off." Kren said as he laid on his side, letting out a groan when his nausea got worse before closing his eyes. "Wake me up when we get there."

"Does that actually work?" Lucy asked Han who jumped next to her to give Kren space.

"Sometimes." Han shrugged, watching the water dragon slayer's features slowly went from sickly to relaxed as sleep overtook him. "He always says that he feels fine when he sleeps but doesn't know why."

While Lucy, Han, and Happy talked and Natsu tried to keep his stomach where it belonged, the sleeping Kren had a small smile on his face. As he dreamed, he could hear a soft and gentle hum in the black abyss that had a calming effect on the dragon slayer. The humming got louder and Kren got more relaxed with each passing second. The humming soon stopped and was replaced by the sound of the same voices he first heard in Hargeon.

"_This is so hard!_" The voice of a young boy complained. "_I'll never get it right!_"

"_**Now, now, Kren, there is no need to be upset.**_" A soft and gentle voice said with a comforting tone in their voice. "_**I'm sure you will in due time.**_"

"_But when?_" The young voice of Kren asked impatiently. "_I want to do it now!_"

_**"Oh,** **Kren.**_" An amused chuckle filled the abyss at the younger voice's impatience over the sound of crashing water in the background. "_**Alright, we will try one more time before calling it a day. Now, take deep breaths and concentrate your magic power. Concentration is crucial when first learning to use this kind of magic.**_"

"_Okaaay, I'll try._" Over the background noise of the crashing water, slow deep breaths could be heard.

"_**That is it, Kren, just like that.**_" The voice said encouragingly as a small splash could be heard with each breath the young Kren took. Soon, the sound of slurping was heard the crashing water was silenced for a few moments before it returned.

"_I-I did it?_" Young Kren asked with uncertainty before a small excited laugh was heard. "_I did it! Aquacia, did you see, did you, did you?!_'

"_**I saw and I am so proud of you, Kren.**_"

"_It's all because you're a great teacher! Thank you, Mama!_"

A sudden jerk caused Kren to let out a low groan as he began to awaken and slowly opened his eyes. When he did, the dragon slayer took note that he wasn't feeling nauseous which meant that the carriage had stopped. Slowly pushing himself into a sitting position, Kren was greeted by the sight of Lucy rubbing a still nauseous Natsu's back while Happy and Han were nibbling on fish.

"Morning, Kren." Han waved at the dragon slayer, having noticed he had woken up. "Sleep well?"

"Very actually." Kren replied, placing a hand over his mouth as a loud yawn left before looking out the window. "Did we arrive at Shirotsume?"

"Aye, a few minutes ago actually." Happy replied, placing the unfinished fish in his green bag. "We were just waiting for you to wake up."

"Didn't I tell you guys to wake me when we got there?" Kren asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms when he remembered he did indeed ask them to.

"It was my idea." Lucy piped in, getting the attention of the water dragon slayer as she continued to rub Natsu's back. "You looked like you were having a nice dream and this guy needed a few minutes."

"It was kinda cute." Happy said, his paws covering his mouth to stifle his fit of laughter. "The way you clung to Lucy in your sleep and called her "Mama" like that."

"I did what?" Kren's eyes widened in shock as he looked to Lucy who just turned her head away from the dragon slayer. Face turning beet red, Kren jumped to his feet, head bumping on the roof of the carriage, and deeply bowed to the blond girl. "I'm so sorry, Lucy!"

"Don't worry about it, Kren." Lucy said reassuringly, turning her head to face Kren, a faint blush on her cheeks, and smiled. "You didn't mean anything by it, so there's no need to apologize."

'_Best not to mention the position he was in when he clung to her._' Han sweat dropped as he recalled what transpired while the dragon slayer slept. '_He'd probably try and commit seppuku if he found out._'

After leaving the carriage and thanking the driver, the three wizards and their feline companions walked through the town of Shirotsume. Kren marveled at the many shops they passed while his sensitive nose and ears twitched with each new scent and sound.

"That's the last time I'm riding in one of those." Natsu said, his posture a round-shouldered slouch as he swayed from side to side with each step he took.

"You say that every time." Happy pointed out, walking slightly behind the fire dragon slayer beside Lucy.

"Man, I'm starving."

"Can't you just eat your own fire?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea." Natsu said sarcastically, taking deep breaths as sweat covered his face. "Why don't you just eat Plue or your cow while you're at it?"

"Why would I do something like that?" Lucy demands, completely shocked by the fire dragon slayer's ridiculous remark.

"It's kinda the same thing for us, Lucy." Kren explained, getting the celestial wizard's attention. "We dragon slayers can only eat our element from outside sources."

"It's kinda counterproductive anyway." Han added, shrugging his shoulders much to the confusion of the only female in their group. "Think about it, dragon slayers rejuvenate themselves and enhance their abilities by eating their element." He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Lucy who was still confused. "So, if Kren and Natsu _could_ eat their own fire and water, they're just eating the magic they used to form it when they could've used it to attack."

"I guess that makes sense." Lucy said thoughtfully as she processed Han's words before something caught her eye. "Oh, that's right, if I'm posing as a maid I should look the part."

"You do know they were joking, right?" Kren sweat dropped when he saw what caught the celestial wizard's eye. Across from the group was an apparel shop with a mannequin wearing a familiar maid outfit. "Everlue might provide you with a uniform if you manage to get in."

"Joking or not, you never know when it'll come in handy." Lucy said as she walked towards the shop with Kren, Natsu, Han, and Happy following behind her. "Besides, I might look super cute in this uniform."

"In what situation would a maid outfit come in handy?" Han wondered as Lucy took the outfit off the mannequin and walked over to the counter to pay for it.

"It's times like these I'll never understand girls, Han." Kren muttered under his breath before a thought occurred to him. '_Should I tell Lucy about Virgo? Nah, she'll find out soon enough._'

"All done." Lucy said, bringing Kren out of his thoughts as she walked over to a fitting room. "I'm going to change real quick then we'll meet up with the client."

"She took us seriously." Happy whispered loudly to Natsu as Lucy entered the fitting room and Kren turned his back to it. "What do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do." Natsu whispered back while Han sighed at the idiocy of the fire dragon slayer and his feline companion. "Don't say anything."

"I can hear you!" Lucy shouted from inside the fitting room before the curtain slid open to reveal Lucy wearing a black and white maid outfit with her hair tied in pigtails. "Alright, let's go see the client!"

"You guys can go on ahead." Kren said with a small wave as Han jumped onto his shoulder. "I'm going to see if I can find a magic shop."

"Why would you want to look for a magic shop?" Happy asked curiously as they left the apparel shop and walked through the streets of Shirotsume again.

"I heard from someone in the guild of a lacrima that can store water." Kren replied, a hand reaching into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper to read what was written on it. "So I did a bit of digging and there's a magic shop that sells them."

"I think I get it." Lucy said, tapping the palm of her hand with a fist. "If you're running low on magic power and need to recharge, then you can use the water from the lacrima."

"Exactly." Kren nodded in confirmation to the celestial wizard's guess before splitting from them. "So I'll meet you guys at Everlue's mansion."

* * *

After finding the magic shop and purchasing what he was looking for, Kren and Han met up with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. Upon arriving at Everlue's mansion, Kren took Lucy's left hand and used a magic brush he bought at the magic shop along with the lacrima to hide her guild mark. When asked why he did that, the dragon slayer just explained so it wouldn't blow her cover before hiding behind a tree with Natsu, Happy, and Han.

"Excuse me, I heard you had an opening for a maid position!" Lucy called out while Kren kept a close eye on the ground where Lucy stood. "Hello?"

'_I wonder if we should just attack the moment that disgusting bastard shows his face._' Kren pondered before shaking his head. '_No, no, no, then we would be arrested for assaulting a duke and have no proof of his illegal dealings._'

The tiled ground beside Lucy suddenly bulged up before bursting as a shadowed figure jumped out and landed with a powerful thud which startled the celestial wizard. The shadowed figure was revealed to be an extremely tall stature and overweight woman with a brutish face wearing a maid outfit and her pink hair was done in two pony tails.

"So you're a maid?" The woman asked, arms behind her back as she towered over Lucy.

"Yeah." Lucy replied as she quickly got over her shock of the other woman's appearance.

"I assume you're here cause you saw the ad that the master placed in the paper?" The woman inquired before another shadowed figure burst out of the ground and landed next to her.

"Boyoyoyo!" The shadowed figure was revealed to be a short, plump man with skinny arms and legs. He wears a formal black suit, with his jacket fastened with a large gold button and adorned with a decorative red flower. Beneath his jacket is a white collared shirt, a blue necktie and dark blue boots. He also sports a curled mustache which directly protrudes from his nostrils, as well as a bushel of wavy hair atop his round head. "Did I hear someone say "Master"?"

'_Scum of the earth suits you better, Everlue._' Kren's eyes narrowed in disgust at the man as he carefully examined an obviously creeped out Lucy. '_I hope I get to bash his face in before we turn him in._'

"I'll pass." Everlue said dismissively with disinterest on his face as he turned his back to the blond celestial wizard. "Now scram, ugly."

At hearing the man call her ugly, Lucy gasped in shock before the gorilla-like woman picked her up by the back of her maid outfit. Kren and Han winced as they pictured a sign with "Ugly" written on it piercing the celestial wizard. The two know how Lucy takes great pride in her appearance and hearing someone call her ugly was probably too shocking for her to take.

"Sorry." Everlue turned back to Lucy with a grin on his face. "But a man of my standing has certain standards to uphold." Kren and Han immediately turned their heads away as they knew that four unattractive maids were about to burst out of the ground behind Everlue. "That's why I only hire the fairest of the fair."

"I may respect women, but even I can tell when someone's unattractive." Kren muttered under his breath, placing a hand over his eyes so he wouldn't accidentally catch a glance. "We probably should have just broken in and stole the book."

"Too late for that now." Han said as Everlue entered his mansion along with his maids, leaving a depressed Lucy at the entrance. "To be fair, we didn't know anything about Everlue's taste in women."

"Aye." Happy nodded in agreement as Natsu and Kren walked over to Lucy who was now in the fetal position. "We probably should have looked into that."

"It's okay, Lucy." Kren said softly, trying to console the crying celestial wizard as he removed the magic hiding her guild mark. "It's obvious that an idiot like that guy wouldn't know beauty if it bit him in the behind."

"This stinks." Lucy whined as a stream of tears left her eyes before suddenly jumping to her feet with a fist raised and a look of anger on her face. "That big fat jerk's gonna to pay for this!"

"Then I guess we'll resort to good old plan T." Natsu said with a confident grin as he punched the palm of his hand with his fist.

"Wait, what's plan T?" Lucy asked in confusion while Kren let out a small nervous chuckle.

"Take 'em by storm!" Happy declared cheerfully.

"That's not a plan!" Lucy shouted at the blue feline before pointing at Natsu. "And you, I'm not going to jail because of you charging recklessly!"

"Guess that means we'll have to be sneaky ninjas." Han commented, much to the excitement of Natsu and Happy as he sprouted his wings. "Happy and I can fly you guys to the roof and we can get in from there."

"That's our best course of action." Kren nodded as Han flew up behind him and tightly gripped the back of his clothes while Happy did the same with Natsu.

"We'll probably cover more ground if we split up." Lucy suggested as she pointed towards Everlue's mansion. "So once we get inside, Natsu, Happy, and I will cover the top floor while you and Han search the second, Kren."

"Alright." Kren nodded in agreement as Han began to lift them into the air. "Then we'll meet up to cover the bottom floor."

"It may not be plan T, but being like a ninja sounds awesome." Natsu said excitedly as he and Kren flew through the air and onto the roof of Everlue's mansion before Happy left to get Lucy. "You know, we could probably level this place with no problem."

"There is a problem, Natsu." Kren crossed his arms as Natsu walked over to a window and began to melt the glass to unlock it. "We're trying to be sneaky to avoid arrest and leveling an entire mansion is not exactly sneaky."

"Exactly!" Lucy said as Happy let her down next to the two dragon slayers. "What did I tell you before? I'm not going to jail because of you."

"Yeah, but I thought you were out to get revenge on this guy." Natsu mentioned, recalling how upset the celestial wizard was and how she vowed to make the plump man pay.

"Oh, I'll get my revenge." Lucy said slowly, tick mark throbbing on her forehead as the memory of what happened played back in her head. "Not only am I gonna to burn his book, but I'm gonna use his toothbrush to clean the toilet!"

'_Note to self: keep all toothbrushes away from Lucy._' Kren and Han sweat dropped as they opened the now unlocked window into what appeared to be a storage room.

After getting in Everlue's mansion and Happy scaring Lucy with a skull mask, the group split up with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy remaining on the top floor while Kran and Han went to the second floor. The water dragon slayer and his feline companion went from door to door occasionally resisting the urge to gag at some of the rooms. When they reached the last room of the floor, Kren opened the door to reveal it was some kind of art gallery with statues and paintings inside. These works of "art", however, all had Everlue's face on them from the muscular statues to the paintings.

"Wow, can this guy _be_ any more full of himself." Han flew up to a statue of a topless Everlue statue that was sporting a six pack and pointing in a random direction. "I feel sorry for the sculptor who made these abominations."

"When this job is done, remind me to destroy these things, Han." Kren requested as he walked through the many different statues of Everlue. "For now, let's hurry and find the library to grab Day-" Kren didn't finish his sentence when a single painting in the back of the gallery caught his eye and walked over to it.

"Kren?" Han blinked in confusion before following the dragon slayer to the painting. Once they were close enough to get a good look at the painting, there was only one word to describe what they thought of it. "Beautiful."

Hanging on the wall was a painting of a lake surrounded by lush greenery but it was any of this that they thought was beautiful. What caught their eyes was the creature in the middle of the lake which was a large Dragon who had a serpent-like body that is covered by smooth glistening blue scales. Its lower body, specifically its stomach, the inner portions of its long tail, and legs, are white in color. The dragon had a triangular and flat head, round eyes with blue sclera, and a single horn pointing upwards just above her nose. On the sides of the dragon's body were a pair of arms with three-fingered white claws. Additionally, the dragon had a pair of wings that resemble a bat with ripple tips attached to its wrists that are twice the length of its forearm.

"This dragon." Kren muttered softly, raising a hand to let his fingers lightly brush against the painting of the dragon. "I know it." Tears unknowingly built in the corners of the dragon slayer's eyes and silently trailed down his face and onto the floor as one word left his lips. "Aquacia."

"Aquacia?" Han looked up to Kren with wide surprised eyes as he looked back to the dragon in the painting. "Are you sure?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind." Kren tightly shut his eyes when he felt a twinge in his head and clenched his teeth in order to not cry out. "My head!" The dragon slayer removed his hand from the painting to tightly grip his head when the pain worsened.

"Kren!" Han watched helplessly as Kren fell to his knees with one hand on the floor while the other still tightly gripping his head.

'_This is just like when I remembered how to use my magic_.' Kren weakly thought through the pain, finding it hard to breathe as he started to pant heavily and another spasm of pain contorted his face. Images and voices began to play in his mind with each spasm of pain.

***Flashback***

_"This is so hard!" A younger Kren complained, standing in front of a waterfall while the dragon from the painting was coiled behind him. He slumped to the ground and crossed his arms and legs pouting. "I'll never get it right!"_

_"**Now, now, Kren, there is no need to be upset.**" The dragon said, their soft and gentle voice having a comforting tone as they lowered their head to gently nudge the young boy. "**I'm sure you will in due time.**"_

_"But when?" Younger Kren asked impatiently, looking up at the dragon with tears of frustration in the corner of his pleading eyes. "I want to do it now!"_

_"**Oh, Kren.**" The dragon let out an amused chuckle at the young boy's impatience as they raised their head. "**Alright, we will try one more time before calling it a day.**" They nodded towards the waterfall as the young boy got to his feet. "**Now,**_** take deep breaths and concentrate your magic power. Concentration is crucial when first learning to use this kind of magic.**"

_"Okaaay, I'll try." Young Kren dragged out, facing the waterfall and closing his eyes before taking long deep breaths. With each breath he took, small droplets of water would rise from the water's surface before falling back in._

_"**That is it, Kren, just like that.**" The dragon said encouragingly, having seen the droplets and nodded in satisfaction as the droplets got closer to Young Kren with each breath he took._

_He took one final deep breath before tendrils of water left the waterfall and entered Young Kren's mouth along with the sound of slurping. Soon, the young boy stopped causing the waterfall to continue to crash down while young Kren stared in shock._

_"I-I did it?" Young Kren asked, uncertainty in his voice before a big smile formed on his face and a small excited laugh left his lips as he turned to the dragon. "I did it! Aquacia, did you see, did you , did you?!"_

_"**I saw and I am so proud of you, Kren.**" The dragon said, a proud smile gracing its features at seeing how happy the human child was._

_"It's all because you're a great teacher!" Kren ran towards the dragon and wrapped his arms around the end of its tail in a hug before smiling brightly up to the dragon. "Thank you, mama!"_

***End of Flashback***

'_Aquacia, she was my…_' Kren's train of thought was halted when he had a sudden sense of danger before he grabbed Han and jumped out of the way of a flying kick that smashed through the floor creating a cloud of dust. "Who's there?!"

"Aw, I missed." A deep voice muttered as the dust cloud settled to reveal a tall muscular man with shoulder length blond hair with a few strands standing up and curved like horns and red eyes. He was wearing a red sleeveless shirt under an open black jacket, teared jeans, chain bracelets on each wrist, and a pair of spiked black shoes. On his right arm was a white armband with a wolf's head and the letter "S" on it. "I was aiming for your neck."

"Who are you?" Han demanded, still getting over the shock of the sudden attack that might have ended their lives if Kren didn't act in time.

"I normally don't give my name to wizards." The man said, spitting to the side as if he tasted something awful. "But, since you survived my first attack, I'll make an exception." He jabbed a thumb at his chest while bringing his other arm up to flex his muscles. "I'm Kal Clum, a member of the Southern Wolves mercenary guild."

"All Glum?" Kren and Han tilted their heads in confusion, question marks dancing over their heads as Kal facefaulted.

"It's Kal Clum!" Kal shouted as he jumped back to his feet, tick mark pulsing on his forehead before pointing at Kren. "How can you get that wrong?!"

"Something tells me his name is a sensitive subject." Han whispered to Kren who nodded in agreement before sprouting his wings and flying out of the dragon slayer's arms. "I'm going to check on the others, beat this guy good, Kren!"

"Leave it to me." Kren gave Han a confident smirk as he brought a hand up and formed an orb of water. "Bal Slum won't even know what hit him."

"My name is Kal Clum!" Kal shouted in frustration as Han flew out of the room and he cracked his knuckles. "Now you've done it, I'm going to enjoy taking my time in tearing you apart."

"Say that after you land a hit on me!" Kren shot back, charging towards Kal and bringing a fist back and aimed a punch to the mercenary's face. To the dragon slayer's shock, Kal suddenly vanished when his face made contact with his face. "What?!" He suddenly felt like someone punched him in the stomach as he flew back into a statue, destroying it and the rubble fell on top of him as Kal pulled his fist back and let out a deep breath.

"What was that about landing a hit on you?" Kal smirked as Kren pulled himself out of the rubble and the mercenary hopped on his feet while punching the air a few times. "This is the problem with wizards, they only focused on training their mental abilities and not their physical abilities." He did a roundhouse kick followed by an elbow strike. "I, on the other hand, trained my body to have more strength and speed."

"Your point?" Kren asked, dusting off debris on his shoulder as he jumped off the rubble he was buried under.

"My point is that wizards are beneath me." Kal replied, pointing towards Kren before charging towards the dragon slayer to land a punch to the face. Kren caught the fist with both hands and struggled to hold the stronger man back. "You have no chance in hell of defeating me if I prevent you from using your magic."

"We'll see about that." Kren opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath as a magic circle formed in front of him. "**Water Dragon-**"

"Too slow!" Kal reached into his jacket and pulled out a small gourd before removing the stopper with his teeth.

"**Roar!**" Kren released a vortex of water from the magic circle, but only watched in shock as the water was sucked into the gourd in Kal's hand. "What the?!" Still getting over his shock, Kren didn't notice the kick to his abdomen until he was knocked off his feet and flying into the air. Kal jumped after Kren and landed another kick to the abdomen sending the dragon slayer crashing into the floor.

"This is exactly what I mean." Kal said as he landed with one leg bent up to his chest and his hands clapped together. "Take away a wizard's magic and they'll be like lambs to the slaughter when they fight a mercenary like me."

"What did you do?" Kren questioned as he rolled over and pushed himself up to look the mercenary in the eye. "How did you stop my breath attack?"

"It's just your bad luck that fighting water wizards is my specialty." Kal replied with a prideful grin as he held up the gourd so it was in view. "This gourd here absorbs any water attack you throw my way." He shook the gourd in a mocking way much to the dragon slayer's frustration at what that implies. "In other words, you're as much of a threat as a small bug that had its limbs torn off."

"We'll see about that." Kren muttered under his breath before getting to his feet and rolling his shoulders. The dragon slayer took a deep breath as he slightly bent his knees and brought his fists close to his chest. "Magic may be out of the equation, but I'll be fine."

"So, you're going to use your fists?" Kal let out a small chuckle that slowly turned into boisterous laughter. "You really think you can take me on in a hand-to-hand fight?!" His laughter was halted when a sudden gust of wind against his skin made him notice he had a foot inches from striking his face. "How in the…?"

"True, your speed and power caught me off guard." Kren admitted as Kal jumped back to make some distance between him and the dragon slayer who lowered his leg. "If I can't use magic as long as you have that gourd, then I'll fight you on your terms."

"Your funeral, kid." Kal shrugged his shoulders before running towards Kren with a fist pulled back. "No wizard can match my strength!"

As the mercenary threw a punch at Kren, the dragon slayer stepped to the side before grabbing the mercenary's wrist only for him to be lifted in the air. The mercenary swung Kren into an Everlue statue, shattering it and the dragon slayer tightly clenched his teeth to avoid crying out as he aimed a kick to Kal's face. The mercenary easily caught the kick and pulled the dragon slayer off his wrist before tossing him across the art gallery. Kren slammed into another statue and the dragon slayer let out a hiss of pain before twisting his body to the side to avoid a flying kick from Kal. This, however, was a terrible mistake as the dragon slayer watched in horror as the mercenary's kick pierced through the wall next to the painting of the dragon. Debris flew through the air as a piece of the wall tore the painting across the dragon's neck and something deep inside the dragon slayer snapped.

"How dare you!" Kren shouted, rage evident in both his voice and face as he ran towards a startled Kal before the dragon threw a powerful punch to the mercenary's abdomen that forced the air out of Kal's lungs.

Kren launched a fierce barrage of punches and kicks, leaving Kal to go on the defensive as he blocked and dodged the enraged dragon slayer's attacks. However, he was not expecting for Kren to kick his hand that held the gourd causing the item to roll a distance away from them. Not giving the mercenary time to grab the item, Kren continued to fiercely attack the mercenary.

"Don't harm my mother!" Kren took a deep breath as a magic circle formed in front of him and Kal began to panic because he didn't have his gourd. "**Water Dragon Roar!**"

"This can't be happening!" Kal shouted in fear as a vortex of water left the magic circle and slammed into him, sending the mercenary through the walls of Everlue's mansion and into the sky as a twinkling star.

* * *

**Now to answer the reviews you have been kind enough to leave for me to read.**

**Karsap: I'm not sure what you mean by "Freaky Friday", I tried looking it up and came up empty.**

**Raidentensho: Happy to hear you say that. That is an interesting thought and it gave me and idea for later on in this story. I'm glad to hear you think this story has potential and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.**

**Zeromk7: I'm glad to hear you thought it was cool. Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoyed it.**

**Guest: I'm happy to hear how much confidence in my writing. However, I already have a pairing in mind for Kren, but I will take your suggestions under consideration in case I change my mind.**

**With that out of the way, I bid you all farewell until next chapter.**


End file.
